Washington, D.C. is run by a locally elected mayor and a 13-member council that handle day-to-day city operations, but Congress holds ultimate constitutional authority over the District and can override local laws, control the city’s budget, and shape its courts. The President adds another layer, commanding the D.C. National Guard, nominating local judges, appointing the prosecutor who handles local crimes, and holding exclusive clemency power over D.C. Code offenses. More than 700,000 residents live under this split system, and no state operates under anything like it.
The Mayor Runs the City’s Agencies
The mayor is the District’s chief executive, overseeing tens of thousands of city employees and agencies ranging from the Metropolitan Police Department to the Department of Public Works. The office drafts the annual budget, issues executive orders, and sets priorities for public safety, transportation, and city services. Mayors serve four-year terms with no term limits.
The role has real administrative weight but operates within boundaries no governor faces. The mayor cannot direct the D.C. National Guard, does not appoint local judges, and has no control over the federal prosecutor who handles most serious local crimes. For a city of its size, that is a sharply constrained executive.
The Council of the District of Columbia Writes Local Law
The D.C. Council functions as the city’s legislature. Thirteen members make up the body: one from each of the District’s eight wards, plus five at-large members including the chairman.1Council of the District of Columbia. Councilmembers The council drafts and votes on local laws covering zoning, public health, taxes, and city services. The mayor can sign or veto a passed bill, and the council can override a veto with a two-thirds vote of members present.2D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 1-206.02 – Limitations on the Council
Several big-ticket powers are off the table entirely. The council cannot tax the income of commuters who work in D.C. but live in Maryland or Virginia, cannot change the federal building height limits set by the 1910 Heights of Buildings Act, cannot legislate on how the local courts are organized or what the U.S. Attorney does, and cannot touch federal property or anything beyond the District’s borders.2D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 1-206.02 – Limitations on the Council The commuter tax ban alone costs the city hundreds of millions of dollars a year, since more than half of D.C.’s workforce lives outside the District.
Congress Reviews Every Law the City Passes
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act, signed into law in 1973 as Public Law 93-198, created the current system of limited self-governance.3GovInfo. Public Law 93-198 – District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act Before 1973, Congress governed the city directly through appointed commissioners. The Act delegated certain legislative powers to the local government while leaving Congress’s constitutional authority fully intact.
Every law the council passes must survive a mandatory congressional review period before taking effect. For most legislation the window is 30 calendar days, excluding weekends, holidays, and congressional recesses. For criminal laws, including anything that would be codified under the District’s criminal, family, or corrections code, the waiting period doubles to 60 days.2D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 1-206.02 – Limitations on the Council If Congress passes a joint resolution of disapproval during either window and the President signs it, the local law is permanently killed. Congress can also repeal or modify any existing D.C. law at any time.
In practice, D.C. legislation often becomes a vehicle for national political fights. Members of Congress from states thousands of miles away can and do use the review period to block local policies they object to.
Congress Controls the Budget Too
Even though the overwhelming majority of the city’s operating revenue comes from local taxes paid by D.C. residents and businesses, the District’s spending plan must be folded into a federal appropriations bill and approved by Congress.4Congressional Research Service. District of Columbia FY2025 Budget Status In Brief No other American city needs permission from Congress to spend its own tax money.
That setup lets Congress attach policy riders to the D.C. appropriations bill, restricting how the city can use its own locally raised funds. The proposed fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill, for example, included riders barring the District from using local tax dollars to fund recreational marijuana sales, enforce its own vehicle emission standards, implement certain policing reforms, and carry out its automated traffic enforcement program.5Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Norton Calls Anti-Home Rule Riders on Committee-Passed DC Appropriations Bill Irresponsible and Condescending
Residents tried to escape this arrangement with a 2013 ballot referendum that would have removed the city’s budget from the congressional appropriations process. More than 81 percent voted yes. The Government Accountability Office then ruled the referendum exceeded the powers of the Home Rule charter, and a D.C. Superior Court judge upheld that conclusion, holding that only Congress can grant the District budget autonomy.
The President Has Powers No State Residents Face
The President holds direct authority over D.C. that has no equivalent anywhere else in the country.
Command of the D.C. National Guard
In every state the governor commands the National Guard unless the troops are called into federal service. The D.C. National Guard is the only guard unit in the country that reports solely to the President, with day-to-day authority delegated to the Secretary of Defense and then the Secretary of the Army.6District of Columbia National Guard. District of Columbia National Guard – About Us The mayor cannot deploy these troops during a local emergency.
Judges on the Local Courts
Judges on the D.C. Superior Court and the D.C. Court of Appeals are not elected by residents or appointed by the mayor. The President nominates them from a shortlist provided by the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission, and the U.S. Senate must confirm each appointment.7D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 1-204.33 – Nomination and Appointment of Judges Judges serve initial 15-year terms and may be reappointed.8Judicial Nomination Commission. Judicial Service in the District of Columbia Courts Frequently Asked Questions The D.C. Court of Appeals is the District’s highest court, reviewing final decisions from the Superior Court and from D.C. government agencies.9DC Courts. District of Columbia Court of Appeals Court funding comes from federal appropriations, and the council has no authority to legislate on how the courts are organized or what jurisdiction they hold.
The U.S. Attorney Prosecutes Local Crime
Criminal prosecution in D.C. is handled by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, a presidential appointee. The office is unique among U.S. Attorney’s offices because it serves as both the local and federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, handling everything from misdemeanor drug cases to murders under the D.C. Code alongside traditional federal prosecutions.10U.S. Department of Justice. About the District of Columbia In every other American city, an elected district attorney handles local criminal cases. D.C. residents have no vote in selecting their top prosecutor, and the council has no oversight role over the office.11U.S. Department of Justice. About the U.S. Attorneys Offices
Clemency Even for Local Crimes
Because D.C. Code offenses are technically prosecuted in the name of the United States, the President holds exclusive clemency power over anyone convicted of a local D.C. crime. There is no local equivalent to a governor’s pardon. Someone convicted of a purely local offense such as assault or theft under D.C. law must petition the President through the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.12U.S. Department of Justice. Office of the Pardon Attorney – Frequently Asked Questions
D.C. Residents Have Limited Representation in Congress
Despite paying federal taxes and holding a population larger than Wyoming’s or Vermont’s, D.C. residents send one delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The delegate can introduce bills, speak on the floor, and vote in committee, but cannot cast votes when the full House acts on legislation.13Congressional Research Service. Delegates to the U.S. Congress – History and Current Status The District has no representation in the U.S. Senate.
Residents do vote in presidential elections, under the 23rd Amendment ratified in 1961. The District receives three electoral votes, the same number as the least populous state.14National Archives. Distribution of Electoral Votes D.C. also elects two shadow senators and one shadow representative whose sole formal purpose is to lobby Congress for statehood; these positions carry no legislative power.15DC Statehood. DC Governance
Advisory Neighborhood Commissions Give Residents a Local Voice
At the hyper-local level, D.C. is divided into roughly 40 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, each made up of commissioners elected from small single-member districts. Commissioners serve two-year unpaid terms and must live in the district they represent.16D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 1-309.06 – Advisory Neighborhood Commissions – Election of Members Some districts cover only a few blocks.
ANCs cannot pass binding laws. But when a government agency is making a decision subject to public notice requirements, such as a zoning variance, a liquor license application, or a proposed development, the ANC’s formal recommendation must be given “great weight” in that agency’s deliberations. That phrase has real force in practice, and agencies that ignore ANC input risk having their decisions challenged. For residents who want a direct say in neighborhood governance, the ANC is the most accessible entry point in D.C.’s political system.
The Statehood Question
The underlying tension in every piece of D.C. governance is that more than 700,000 Americans live under a system where Congress can override their local laws, control their budget, and deny them full congressional representation. The Washington, D.C. Admission Act (H.R. 51) has been reintroduced in the 119th Congress and referred to multiple committees, though it has not advanced to a floor vote.17Congress.gov. H.R.51 – 119th Congress – Washington DC Admission Act Statehood would give the District two senators, a voting House member, and full control over its own laws and budget. Until that changes, or until Congress voluntarily cedes more authority, local officials will continue to run the city’s day-to-day operations while Congress and the President retain the power to override almost any local decision.