Dc Weighs Layoffs And Other Cuts As House Leaves Capital City In Budget Limbo

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to keep the focus on a groundbreaking ceremony for a new mixed-used development. But she couldn't help fielding a string of questions about the budget crisis hanging over the nation's capital city.

Asked Monday about the risk of layoffs and furloughs, she said: "We're hoping that we don't get to that stage. If it comes to that, I can assure employees that they will be treated fairly - and I want to emphasize to them that this is not something that the D.C. government has done wrong and is not a case where we don't have the money."

Bowser and the District of Columbia Council are scrambling to address the crisis created by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. When Congress recessed April 10, it adjourned without addressing a 1.1 billion hole in the city's 2025 budget that was created when the House eliminated a little-known provision in a budget resolution.

The Senate proposed a simple fix that was publicly endorsed by President Donald Trump . But the House failed for three weeks to bring the fix up for a vote.

"I can only tell you how frustrating it is right now," Bowser said last week. "We believed that the fix would happen, and we wouldn't be running around planning for cuts."