Holmes Norton: Obama is ‘a big boy’

Washington Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) confronted President Obama over the district’s budget in a White House meeting with the House Democratic Conference Wednesday night, according to The Washington Post.

The Post quoted one of Holmes Norton’s colleagues describing her as “strident,” “self-absorbed” and “parochial” during the exchange.

After the exchange, she told the newspaper that she had a cordial conversation with the president and did not mean to disrespect him. 

“He’s a big boy and I’m a big girl,” she told The Post.

Holmes Norton said she was not trying to pick a fight with the president, but her constituents would expect her to have a conversation with him about the budget. 

She said she only interrupted Obama after he asserted that D.C. is going through the same pains as other districts around the country during the shutdown. 

“That demanded that I give a response,” she told The Post. “Obviously we’re the only District in the United States. We’re uniquely in this position.”

{mosads}Holmes Norton has been arguing for Senate Democrats and President Obama to pass and sign a bill that would allow the district to use its own tax revenue for funding during the shutdown, now in its ninth day. 

The House passed the bill last week, one in a number of smaller stopgap measures to fund certain parts of the government in order to put pressure on Democrats. But Democrats have said they will not accept the piecemeal approach and want a clean bill to fund the entire government. 

The Post reported that Obama reiterated his position Wednesday. 

“Each day without an agreement is punishing millions of Americans and every single D.C. resident,” She said during the vote last week.  

Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray (D) has also demanded a meeting with President Obama and congressional leaders to urge them to pass the legislation. 

He approached Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid during a press conference Wednesday to bring up the issue. 

Reid reportedly told him “I’m on your side, don’t screw it up, okay? Don’t screw it up.”

In the first nine days of the shutdown, the district has been able to use reserve funds to keep operations open. But Gray said that would soon be depleted.

— This post was updated at 8:45 p.m.