By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Effective immediately, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has issued a series of freezes across the D.C. government. The decision, announced April 15, is aimed at managing a significant shortfall in the District’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 funds. The shortfall was caused by a federal continuing resolution (CR) that capped the District’s funding, preventing the city from accessing $1.1 billion in local monies.
On April 14, Bowser invoked a law that allows the D.C. government to adjust the budget by 6 percent to reduce significant layoffs and cuts to essential city services.
“We need the Congress to act,” said Bowser at an April 14 live-streamed press conference. “What we’re doing is a stopgap. It doesn’t address the issue. It still leaves hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank that cannot be used on critical services for the residents of the District of Columbia.”
The mayoral order restricts hiring new employees and contract staff at all executive branch agencies. Starting after April 27, overtime will be restricted and pay raises, bonuses and promotions will be frozen.
The order also mentions potential furloughs and government facility closures. By April 25, the city administrator must present a plan to the mayor regarding these potential measures and other further reductions.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced bipartisan legislation on March 14 to fix the funding bill provision. The bill was not voted on before Congress took a two-week recess on April 11, causing a whirlwind of concern for D.C. leaders.
“The House Speaker could put it on the floor to what’s called a ‘suspension of the rules,’ but it has not been done,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) in a virtual town hall meeting on April 14. “My view, at this point, is that we should just assume that it’s not going to happen and move on.”
Bowser notified Congress via a letter on April 14 of her use of the budget adjustment law and urged the House to pass the bill. Mendelson noted that if the House passes the bill, the issue would be 100 percent fixed, “clean and simple.”
If Congress does not pass the funding fix bill, many Washingtonians could feel the impact of this shortfall.
Washington D.C. is home to around 1.8 million African-Americans, the third largest Black population in the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center report from 2023. More than 678,000 people lived in Washington, D.C., in 2023, according to the D.C. Office of Planning.
This issue is expected to disrupt the FY 2026 budget process, as Bowser noted that it would be challenging to send the FY 2026 budget to the D.C. chief financial officer without resolving the FY 2025.
Bowser assured that her team will continue to work with Congress to remedy the situation.
The House is expected to return from recess on April 28.