DC Funding Bill In Limbo as FreeDC Lobbies 379 Congressional Offices

Activists gather outside Rayburn Office Building

DC Funding Bill Limbo as FreeDC Lobbies 379 Congressional Offices

by Larry Janezich

Posted March 26, 2025

Tuesday morning, almost 100 activists organized by FreeDC gathered outside the Rayburn House Office Building to hear FreeDC cofounder Alex Dodds’s instructions on how to lobby Members of Congress.  The advocacy group is urging House Members to pass the DC Local Funds Act to restore DC’s ability to spend local money on local services for the rest of the fiscal year.  Without this authority being restored, DC will be forced to reduce spending by over $1.1 billion over the next six months.

After receiving instructions and Member Office assignments, the activists – divided into teams of three – headed into the Cannon, Longworth, and Rayburn Buildings where they visited offices, left letters with the receptionist, and asked to speak to the Member or Chief of Staff.  If neither was available, the visitors said they would wait until someone was available.  The tactic for requesting a personal engagement and gathering contact info was often successful.  At day’s end, 379 Congressional Offices had been visited.  The FreeDC lobby effort is scheduled to continue today through 2:00pm on Thursday, with calls and visits to undecided Members. 

The DC spending authority is routinely included in the funding bill which keeps the government running when the annual appropriation bills have not been passed (which is the case this year).  The DC provision was apparently inadvertently omitted from the funding bill which passed Congress the week of March 11.  The bill, without the DC provision, controversially passed the Senate with the help of 9 Democrats (including Minority Leader Schumer) plus Independent Senator Angus King who voted to cut off a filibuster against the bill. The funding bill then passed the Senate by a vote of 54 – 46, including support from Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Senator Angus King of Maine. 

Schumer then immediately called up a “stand alone bill” to restore spending authority for DC, which passed unanimously and sent it to the House.  The Senate bill is being “held at the desk” in the House while lawmakers decide how to proceed.  It is uncertain when the House will take up the bill on the House floor, and lack of guidance from the Speaker’s Office, as well as the Office of Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, suggests that House Republicans may be considering attaching conditions on DC’s ability to spend the money.  If any change is made to the Senate bill or if a new House Bill is passed, it would require further action by the Senate.  President Trump supports the Senate bill as – reportedly – does House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole.