WASHINGTON — The D.C. Council could finally have the authority to spend money from its own budget roughly six months after Congress mistakenly passed a law that resulted in a $1.1 billion funding shortfall, according to a new request from the White House.
The White House sent lawmakers a list of budget requests on Tuesday colloquially known as anomalies, which are specific exceptions in the case that Congress passes a stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown but keeps current spending levels the same. Part of that request was to grant D.C. officials the authority to spend money raised from local taxes.
Although Washington has its own mayor and city council, its local budget is ultimately under the control of Congress, which must approve it every year. That’s typically done with routine language in the annual appropriations bill — but it was inadvertently left out of the package when passed in March.
That reverted the city’s spending cap to 2024 levels despite the city already passing its budget for the 2025 fiscal year, leaving a $1 billion funding gap that sent local leaders into a frenzy to adjust citywide spending levels to avoid mass layoffs or service reductions.
Shortly after discovering the budget mishap, the Senate passed a bill that would have reversed the shortfall — but House GOP leaders failed to bring it to the floor for a vote amid fears of a rank-and-file revolt.
But now the budget fix seems to be coming as President Donald Trump has made nice with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser after the top city official signed an order to continue cooperation with federal law enforcement officials to crack down on high crime levels.
The emergency directive signed by Trump giving him the initial authority to federalize Washington expired on Wednesday, but Bowser agreed to extend that authority earlier this month in an apparent attempt to protect the district from losing its self-governance altogether.
The anomaly request comes as top congressional leaders negotiate a deal to avoid a government shutdown, which is set to take place at midnight on Oct. 1 if some sort of spending agreement is not passed.
Appropriators in the House and Senate have largely agreed they’ll need some version of a continuing resolution to extend current government funding levels to a later date, giving them more time to negotiate a full budget for the 2026 fiscal year. However, it’s not yet clear what that date may be.
Democrats and some Republicans want to extend only until mid-November, arguing it would pressure appropriators to come to an agreement faster. But the White House has floated a Jan. 31 date, a source familiar with the matter told the Deseret News, which might be a harder sell.
Appropriators are also discussing passing yearlong spending bills for the federal agencies Congress has already approved budgets for, such as military spending — which lawmakers argue is crucial to keep pace with global conflicts.
Republican and Democratic leaders will continue talking within their parties to negotiate a deal, although details of a final spending package are far from finalized.