Download Letter (PDF)March 12, 2025 Honorable Senator Chuck Schumer Senate Democratic Leader Chair of the Conference 322 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Honorable Senator Richard Durbin Minority Whip 711 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Cc: all members of the U.S. Senate RE: Vote NO on Cloture and Any Continuing Resolution that Threatens D.C.’s Autonomy Dear Senate Democratic Leader Chair of the Conference, Minority Whip and all members of the U.S. Senate: On behalf of the 112 undersigned national and local civil rights, justice reform, democracy, labor, education, faith, environmental, and parent groups, we write to urge you to vote NO on cloture and firmly oppose any continuing resolution (CR) that removes the District of Columbia (“D.C.”)’s longstanding authority to spend its locally raised tax dollars and manage its own budget. The CR advanced this week by House Republicans steps away from decades-long precedent and opts to treat D.C. like a federal agency despite being a local jurisdiction of 700,000 people. The CR would force D.C. – already six months into the current Congress-approved fiscal year (FY25), to revert back to the previous fiscal year (FY24) spending levels. This move would prohibit D.C. from spending over $1 billion of its own taxpayer dollars, resulting in massive, preventable cuts across the entire local D.C. government and public sector. D.C.’s Mayor has explicitly noted that if this CR is passed, D.C. will need to reduce its remaining funds by 16%, which would require implementing overnight layoffs, furloughs, and hiring freezes, along with significant cuts across public education, public safety, housing supports, food access, health care programs, transit, environmental programs, sanitation and more. During the U.S. House Committee on Rules hearing on March 10, U.S. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) framed the CR’s impact on D.C. as a “minor adjustment that would mostly affect inauguration funding that the [District] did not need anymore” – noting that he did not think the CR would have any impact on D.C.’s day-to-day municipal services operations. Despite misleading rhetoric about the CR, blocking D.C. from spending over $1 billion of its own local funds does nothing to reduce federal spending or shrink the deficit – it simply punishes D.C.’s local government and residents by denying them access to essential services, programs, infrastructure that their own tax dollars pay for. According to estimates shared by D.C.’s elected leadership, this CR would:
- Slash $358 million from public and charter education, undermining school operations and staff;
- Cut $28 million from the Department of Human Services, threatening infrastructure and supports dedicated for unhoused and low-income residents;
- Result in immediate service disruptions, widespread job loss across the local government and public sector, and destabilization across nearly every city agency;
- Complicate citywide operations that are essential not only for residents, but for the federal workforce, millions of visitors, and the broader regional economy.
