An unusual confrontation took place on the U.S. Capitol steps Wednesday when District Mayor Vincent C. Gray crashed a news conference held by Senate Democrats and asked Majority Leader Harry Reid to exempt the city from the ongoing shutdown.
“Sir, we are not a department of the government,” Gray told Reid moments after the mayor concluded his own press event about 50 yards from where Reid held one. “We’re simply trying to be able to spend our own money.”
“I’m on your side, don’t screw it up, okay? Don’t screw it up,” Reid (Nev.) told his fellow Democrat.
The intraparty tension comes after the Republican-controlled House voted last week to pass a bill allowing the District to use its locally raised tax funds to maintain operations until Dec. 15. But Democrats, including Reid and President Obama, have held fast in opposition to piecemeal funding bills, saying Republicans must come to a deal to fund the entire government, not just favored segments.
The District government has tapped a $144 million contingency cash reserve fund to keep its 32,000 employees on the job since the federal shutdown took effect Oct. 1. But the city has frozen many of its outgoing payments in order to conserve the contingency account, which is expected to be exhausted sometime next week.
At their own news conference on the Capitol grounds Wednesday, Gray and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) highlighted the partisan contradictions while detailing the drastic effect of the cash crunch on the District government — including schools, health care, services for the disabled and senior programs.
