Dear Ward 5 neighbors,  Last week, I emailed you asking for your help in calling on the Senate to protect DC's local budget in the GOP spending bill. Your overwhelming response of support made a difference! While the Senate didn't fix the Continuing Resolution, they did pass a separate, standalone measure called the District of Columbia Local Funds Act, which…

Today, the United States Senate unanimously approved standalone legislation that would prevent the District of Columbia from having to cut more than $1 billion in spending during the current FY25 budget year. Make no mistake: until this bill is enacted, the District will face devastating and unnecessary cuts to funding for our schools, public safety…

Dear Ward 5 neighbors,  It has been a long and stressful week for District residents as we lobbied on Capitol Hill to protect the District's budget from a harmful Continuing Resolution that passed the House on Tuesday and received votes in the Senate today. A lot happened in the past few hours, so I want to update…

Dear neighbors,  Dear neighbors,  Over the weekend, Congressional Republicans introduced a Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend federal government funding through September and avoid a potential government shutdown. However, this CR excludes language that has been included for more than twenty years—language that allows DC to operate under its current, locally-funded budget. Removing this provision undoes the District's Fiscal Year…

Dear Ward 5 neighbors,  It's been a busy week with the Ward 5 Budget Forum, performance oversight hearings, and news from the federal government. I know that our community continues to feel the strain of layoffs within the federal government, and with the House passing a spending bill that may necessitate cuts to Medicaid, we know that strain…

Thank you to the many neighbors who filled the room on February 25, 2025 at Friendship PCS - Armstrong Campus for our annual Ward 5 Budget Forum, and to the hundreds more who joined us online via the livestream! The discussion was engaging and helps inform whatI will prioritize in my budget letter to the…

Dear Ward 5 neighbors,  As this week comes to a close, I know many of you are feeling on edge about the future of the District. While these are uncertain times, the threats we face are also a reminder to deepen our resolve and reassert our commitments to caring well for one another. This is not the…

District residents have the full responsibility of citizenship—paying more taxes per capita than any state, and having our residents participating in every war our country has ever fought—but without the full rights of citizenship. This includes a lack of voting representation in Congress and a limited ability to self-govern. For 50 years of Home Rule,…

Dear Ward 5 neighbors,  Over the past several weeks, I've heard from many of you about concerns amidst swift and sweeping change at the federal government level. Some of you have been directly impacted—losing jobs, facing uncertainty, navigating new expectations amidst federal funding freezes and more. Others of you see the impact on your neighbors…

Dear Ward 5 neighbors,  This week's newsletter has lots of updates about upcoming events with my office, the recently released 2023-2025 Progress Report, news about the RFK Stadium site, an episode of the Ward 5 Wave celebrating Black History Month, and more. Check it out! Keep reading the newsletter here