When the House of Representatives adjourned for a two-week recess on Thursday, it left Washington, D.C., officials scrambling to address a $1.1 billion budget shortfall. Despite calls from President Donald Trump for Republicans to resolve the issue, the House’s failure to act now threatens to create a worst-case scenario for Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council, who have warned that layoffs and service cuts could be imminent for the city’s 700,000 residents.
Earlier in the week, Bowser repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass a measure to address the deficit, emphasizing that failure to do so would have immediate consequences. “We need that to happen this week,” she had stressed. However, by Friday, she declined to comment further on the situation or reveal the city’s next steps.
In a last-ditch effort on Thursday, just before the Congressional recess began, Bowser took to social media, tagging both Trump and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, to sound the alarm about the cuts. She warned that cuts would affect essential services, including D.C. police overtime, firefighters, and youth programs. Bowser also reposted Trump’s earlier social media post from March, in which he had urged House leaders to act quickly and pass the budget measure.
The budget crisis began in March when the House passed a government funding bill that required the district to revert to its 2024 budget, effectively slashing $1.1 billion from its balanced budget mid-year. Bowser had worked hard to lobby Congress, arguing that this would lead to immediate layoffs and cuts to essential services, including police officers and teachers.
While the Senate approved the funding bill with the cuts, it followed up with a separate measure to restore the district’s budget, which was then sent back to the House for approval. However, despite three weeks of sessions after Trump’s appeal and backing from the police and firefighter unions, the House failed to bring the proposal to the floor for discussion.
The future remains uncertain, but the potential consequences for the city could be severe. Bowser and other D.C. officials have warned that layoffs for teachers and police officers, as well as cuts to city services, may be unavoidable. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson noted that while there is no set deadline for implementing cuts, the situation is becoming increasingly urgent. “The 2025 budget crisis is like a vice that’s closing in,” he said. “At some point, the dollars won’t be there, and we will have to act.”
Bowser has also pointed out that cuts could affect public safety, with fewer officers available for overtime and possibly less police presence in the city. On Thursday, she warned, “If we have to make drastic cuts, it could affect the ways we keep the city safe.”
The House of Representatives is scheduled to return from recess on April 28, but whether the issue will be resolved then remains unclear.
