For Immediate Release
Monday, March 10, 2025
Contact: Eliza Cava, dc.chapter@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This weekend, out-of-touch Republican members of Congress released a spending bill that would gut DC’s budget, usurp the rights of District of Columbia residents, and violate Home Rule -- the system that permits DC to govern its local affairs in the interest of the people of the District, just like the citizens of every other state.
The proposed stopgap funding bill would nix DC’s already passed 2025 budget, resulting in drastic cuts of nearly $945 million with devastating impacts to DC services and programs that protect the health and safety of the District’s people and environment -- even more absurdly, DC’s budget is funded by local taxpayer dollars, not federal funds so this undemocratic maneuver would result in no cost savings to the federal budget.
The proposed bill would effectively treat the District of Columbia as a federal agency, stripping away our rights to self-determination and putting the people, environment, and wildlife of the District under control by Trump and Congressional Republicans. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, in reverting to 2024 funding levels, the DC police department’s budget would be cut by $67 million, while DC schools would face $359 million in cuts, and the DC Department of Human Services budget would be slashed by more than $28 million.
In response to this dangerous action, Eliza Cava, Conservation Chair of the Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter, released the following statement:
“This lawless power grab by Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress is the latest in an escalating series of attacks on the District of Columbia and its right to self-govern. The hardworking people of the District did not elect Republicans in Congress to represent them, and they won’t stand for these most recent efforts to seize power and undermine the interests of the people of the District. Nor did they elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk to sow chaos and disruption across the District.
“Trump and Congressional Republicans need to keep their hands off DC. Meddling in DC’s local affairs is not the answer. This absurd intrusion into the District’s local affairs is not only an affront to District residents whose services would be slashed, but to Americans in every state who expect their representatives to work in their interest rather than rewriting the law to deny further the rights of more than 700,000 residents of the District of Columbia.
“We call on Congress to oppose this undemocratic spending bill and any efforts to violate the rights and freedoms of the hardworking people of the District of Columbia.”