House GOP Using D.C. To Score Political Points As Biden White House Looks On

The District of Columbia has long been a favored object of Republican outrage, thanks to its special status, which gives Congress the last word on its laws.

In the past, Democrats in Congress and the White House have leapt to defend the city’s home rule, which was only established in 1973. But two recent attacks on that autonomy by House Republicans and the force with which the White House has pushed back may raise questions about that commitment.

In one case, the White House said it opposed a bill but stopped well short of threatening to veto it. In the other, the White House was officially silent.

“I was surprised” by the lack of a veto threat on a bill to limit the city’s right to change its criminal sentencing laws , Del. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.) told HuffPost.

In the arcane back-and-forth between the White House and Capitol Hill, the president can make it clear how much he dislikes a bill coming up for a vote. The official statements on where the administration stands on a particular bill can range from an outright threat that the president would definitely veto it if it got his desk to the less-vehement notice that his advisers would recommend a veto, leaving some leeway for milder forms of opposition.

These variations also serve as a signal to Democrats of how important it is that they vote in concert with the president’s position. Voting for something the president has said he’ll veto would likely be noted within any White House’s legislative affairs shop, Republican or Democratic.

Norton said she didn’t know why the White House didn’t issue a veto threat on the bill limiting the District of Columbia’s authority over its sentencing laws. In the end, the House voted 225 to 181 in favor of it, with 18