Washington, D.C. has no single owner. The land inside the District is divided among three groups: the federal government, which owns roughly a third of the physical territory and holds sovereign authority over all of it; the D.C. municipal government, which owns schools, roads, libraries, and other public infrastructure under the 1973 Home Rule Act; and private individuals and businesses, who hold ordinary fee simple title to their homes and commercial buildings. Sitting above all three is Congress, which the Constitution gives exclusive legislative authority over the District. So when people ask who owns Washington, D.C., the honest answer is that ownership is layered, and the federal layer is always on top.
What the Federal Government Owns
The federal government is the single largest landholder in the city. The National Capital Planning Commission puts federal ownership at roughly one-third of D.C.’s land area.1National Capital Planning Commission. Federal Ownership of Washington, DC Shorelines That includes the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court building, dozens of departmental headquarters, and large stretches of parkland like the National Mall. The General Services Administration manages most federal office buildings. The National Park Service runs the parks, monuments, and memorial grounds.
Federal properties are acquired, maintained, and sometimes expanded under laws such as the Public Buildings Act, which lets the government purchase, condemn, or accept donations of land for public use.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 40 USC Ch. 12 – Construction, Alteration, and Acquisition of Public Buildings Local zoning rules do not apply to these properties. If you want to hold an event or a protest on Park Service grounds, you need a federal permit, not a city one.
This has real financial consequences for the city. Federal property is exempt from local real estate taxes, so D.C. provides police, fire, and emergency services to those sites without collecting any tax revenue from them. Congress makes some payments to offset the cost, but the amounts are decided through the annual appropriations process and are never guaranteed.
What the D.C. Government Owns
For a century after D.C. lost its territorial government in the 1870s, Congress ran the city directly. The District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 changed that, creating an elected mayor and a 13-member council with powers roughly comparable to a state or city legislature.3Council of the District of Columbia. D.C. Home Rule The D.C. government holds title to the public schools, libraries, fire stations, police facilities, and the network of roads, bridges, and sewer lines that keep the city running. Local parks outside the National Park System also fall under city jurisdiction.
These municipal assets are recorded in the District’s land registry and maintained with local tax revenue plus whatever federal payments Congress decides to send. Local ownership here is real, but it exists one level below federal sovereignty: if the federal government decides it needs a piece of city-owned land for a national purpose, it has the legal power to take it.
What Private Owners Hold
The most common misconception about D.C. is that the federal government owns every square foot. It does not. Private individuals and businesses own the majority of the District’s non-federal land in fee simple, the same full form of ownership that exists in every state. Deeds are recorded with the Recorder of Deeds, which operates as part of the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue.4DC Office of Tax and Revenue. Recorder of Deeds People buy, sell, and inherit property through standard legal instruments.
Private owners pay real estate taxes to the District. The residential Class 1 rate is $0.85 per $100 of assessed value, with an additional surcharge above $2.558 million in assessed value.5DC Office of Tax and Revenue. Real Property Tax Rates Nonpayment can trigger liens or tax sales. Zoning and building permits are handled locally. Property owners enjoy the same constitutional protections against unreasonable searches, seizures, and takings that apply anywhere in the country.
One restriction is unique to D.C. and applies to every owner. Under the federal Height of Buildings Act, residential streets are capped at 90 feet and commercial streets at 130 feet.6National Capital Planning Commission. Heights and Views That is why D.C. has no skyscrapers. The rule is federal, not local, and it overrides anything local zoning might otherwise permit.
Why Congress Sits Above All of It
The legal backbone of federal control is Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to “exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever” over the seat of government.7Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 That phrase is about as broad as constitutional language gets. Congress can pass any law it wants for D.C., override any local law, and control the District’s budget.
In practice this works two ways. Congress can legislate directly for the District on any subject. And every law the D.C. Council passes must sit before Congress during a review period before taking effect: 30 days for most laws, 60 days for criminal laws. During that window, Congress can pass a joint resolution to block the law entirely. Congress also approves the city’s local budget through the federal appropriations process. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, for example, approved D.C.’s local budget as part of a broader spending bill.8Congress.gov. District of Columbia Local Lawmaking and Congressional Authority
This is the single most important thing to understand about who controls the District. A state legislature answers to its own constitution and voters. The D.C. Council answers to those things and to Congress, which can step in at any time.
Federal Eminent Domain Inside the District
Because Congress holds full legislative authority over D.C., the federal power to take private property for public use is especially strong here. The Supreme Court confirmed this in Shoemaker v. United States (1893), upholding Congress’s authority to condemn private land for the creation of Rock Creek Park. The Court noted that “the United States possess full and unlimited jurisdiction, both of a political and municipal nature, over the District of Columbia” and that land taken for public parks is taken for a valid public use.9Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Shoemaker v. United States, 147 U.S. 282
That power is still in use. The federal government has condemned land in D.C. for drinking water aqueducts and the Metro subway system, among other projects.10United States Department of Justice. History of the Federal Use of Eminent Domain Private owners are entitled to just compensation under the Fifth Amendment, but they cannot stop a federal condemnation simply by objecting to the project.
What the Ownership Structure Means for Residents
The layered ownership of D.C. shapes the political rights of its roughly 700,000 residents. Because the District is not a state, residents have no voting representation in Congress. D.C. sends one delegate to the House who can introduce legislation and participate in committee work but cannot vote on the House floor. There are no senators.11Congress.gov. District of Columbia Voting Representation in Congress
Residents can vote for president under the 23rd Amendment, ratified in 1961, which gives the District electoral votes equal to what it would get as a state, but no more than the least populous state. That works out to three electoral votes.12Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twenty-Third Amendment
Statehood proposals keep returning. The most recent is H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, introduced in the 119th Congress in January 2025 and referred to House committees without further movement.13Congress.gov. Washington, D.C. Admission Act Under that proposal, most of the residential and commercial areas would become a state, while a smaller federal enclave containing the Capitol, the White House, and the National Mall would remain under direct congressional control. Whether it ever passes is a partisan question, but the recurring introduction says something about how the current ownership arrangement sits with the people who live under it.