DC delegate pleads for voting ability on House floor

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on Tuesday asked House GOP leadership to allow the District of Columbia delegate a floor vote in certain circumstances. 

In a letter to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Norton urged for restoration of voting ability when the House is in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union.

{mosads}”The American citizens who live in the nation’s capital have always been proud to fully participate in all of the obligations of citizenship, including fighting and dying in every war, beginning with the Revolutionary War, paying full federal taxes, and serving on federal juries,” Norton wrote.  

“I ask only that the House, where I am privileged to serve, grant D.C. residents the modicum of respect the vote in the Committee of the Whole would afford,” she added.

When the House is in the Committee of the Whole, it means only 100 members are needed for a quorum and the chamber is considered as one congressional committee.

Delegates from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands and American Samoa have been allowed to vote when the House is in the Committee of the Whole under Democratic majorities. But Republican majorities over the last 20 years have prevented this practice.

However, the delegates have retained the power to vote in committees.

Norton is frequently at odds with fellow lawmakers since Congress maintains jurisdiction over D.C. affairs. Most recently, Norton directed ire at Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) for pushing a rider in the “cromnibus” government spending bill that prevents the District from using federal or local funds to enact any laws to legalize or reduce penalties for marijuana possession. 

The full House will vote on the rules package, which would include whether delegates can vote in the Committee of the Whole, for the 114th Congress in January.

– This post was updated at 4:09 p.m.