D.C. leaders have been arguing for budget autonomy — especially during the government shutdown. Yesterday on the steps of the Capitol, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray took the opportunity to crash a presser by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to press the issue.
Reid’s answer to Gray as the cameras rolled? “I’m on your side. Don’t screw it up, OK?”
Then Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) came down to fight Reid’s battle against the mayor, telling Gray that everyone’s got problems and he needs to be working to open the government.
What D.C. wants is not an appropriation, but what’s already in the till for the District.
“This is about the District’s money,” said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). “This is not an ‘appropriations bill.’ The bill that the Mayor’s coming to talk about today simply unlocks the District’s ability to spend their own locally derived money.”
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