THE LATEST, 4/15/2025: Major DC budget cuts include hiring freeze, no more overtime pay
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Leaders in D.C. have started planning for major budget cuts as a bill that would allow the city to avoid those cuts remains stalled in Congress.
“We’re kind of at a point where I have to advance that possibility,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday.
Bowser warned of looming layoffs and service reductions.
“Given the amount of time we have left in our fiscal year — six months — I can’t say, I can’t take off the table job impacts,” Bowser said.
The crisis dates back to March, when the U.S. House passed a federal government funding bill that would force D.C.’s government to revert to its 2024 spending levels, effectively cutting $1.1 billion from its current budget.
Bowser spearheaded an intense congressional lobbying campaign to prevent the change, saying it would result in immediate, across-the-board cuts to staffing and programs — including layoffs of teachers and police officers.
The Senate approved the funding bill with the cut but immediately followed up with a separate bill that would make the District’s budget whole again.
That fix then reverted to the House for approval.
So far, the House has not brought the proposal to the floor for discussion.
Bowser on Monday indicated she had expected the House to pass the D.C. budget fix by now.
President Donald Trump in late March released a statement calling on House leadership to pass the budget measure and “get it done IMMEDIATELY.”
“We believed that the fix would happen,” Bowser said. “We had a bipartisan bill that came out of the Senate; we have the full-throated support of the president of the United States.”
It was not immediately clear what the city government may cut, but planning has already begun.
“Immediately we will limit spending in the government,” Bowser said.
Under federal law, District officials said they have the authority to increase spending levels in the current budget by about 6%, which would absorb some of the cuts.
However, even with that extra 6%, the District would still face about $400 million in reductions.
Bowser said she was still holding out hope the House would pass the D.C. budget bill when lawmakers return to the Capitol.
“It leaves still hundreds of millions of dollars of money that we have that will be in the bank that cannot be used on critical service for the residents of the District of Columbia,” Bowser said. “We need the Congress to act.”
The House returns from recess April 28.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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