ETHICS/HOUSE OF REPS: “Rep. Trey Gowdy, the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said that he would like to avoid showdowns between Congress and the municipal government of Washington, D.C., over city-passed laws.
Mr. Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican who was last week elected chairman of the congressional committee that has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, signaled in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he was unlikely to use the perch to try to impose congressional will on the actions of the local government.
‘I was not elected the mayor of the District of Columbia. I couldn’t be elected mayor of the District of Columbia. And I don’t think the mayor of the District of Columbia would do very well in my district,’ said Mr. Gowdy.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress is granted ‘exclusive’ jurisdiction to govern the District of Columbia. In 1973, Congress delegated some of its authority to a mayor and a 13-member council, but still maintains the authority to overturn locally-passed laws and has a final say over the city’s ability to spend locally-raised tax dollars.”
-Byron Tau, “Trey Gowdy Wants to Avoid Showdowns With D.C. Government as House Oversight Chair,” The Wall Street Journal online, June 19, 2017 09:41am