New House Oversight chair Rep. Gowdy pledges not to meddle in District affairs
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Version 0 of 1. District officials are saying the election of Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) as the new chairman of the congressional committee in charge of the nation’s capital could reset relations between the city and Capitol Hill - a connection that had grown tense under Gowdy’s predecessor. “[Gowdy] has been consistent in saying that he wants to respect the District,” said D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who has led a campaign called Hands Off D.C. to try to dissuade members of Congress from overriding local laws and policies. “I’m very hopeful that we’re going to have a member who wants to have that kind of constructive relationship and constructive dialogue.” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) had planned to call Gowdy, who was elected chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform committee last week, but he beat her to it and reached out first, the mayor said earlier this week. She is scheduled to sit down with Gowdy in his office on Capitol Hill when members return from their July recess, according to Beverly L. Perry, the mayor’s chief liaison to Capitol Hill. “The mayor is very encouraged by his comments and we’re looking forward to meeting with him,” Perry said. “We think that it’s better for them to hear from us who we are — that we have balanced our budget for 23 years, that we pay higher per capita taxes than anyone else and that we serve our country like anyone else.” Gowdy’s predecessor, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), is retiring from Congress next week. Chaffetz became a boogey man of sorts for District residents, as he tried to reverse the city’s assisted suicide law, opposed its legalization of marijuana, suggested lopping off part of the District and folding it into Maryland and pushed to move federal agencies outside the District. D.C. activists flooded his office phone lines with complaints, mocked Chaffetz on social media and started a political action committee to unseat him. On the day Chaffetz’s committee voted to oppose the assisted-suicide law, upwards of a thousand D.C. residents attended a “Hands off DC” rally and then a town hall meeting organized by Allen. Gowdy has said he has no plans to meddle in District affairs but on Friday, he qualified that statement by adding that he would delve into issues when he believes he must. “I [will] try really hard not to meddle in the affairs of the District of Columbia beyond that which is constitutionally required,” Gowdy told reporters Friday. Gowdy met on Thursday with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the city’s nonvoting representative, in her office, and said the pair have a “great relationship.” . Allen said that unlike Chaffetz — who slept on a cot in his office for eight years and avoided getting to know the city — Gowdy sounds more open-minded. But Gowdy’s pledge doesn’t diminish the need for D.C. autonomy, Allen said, noting that several GOP members of Congress are currently trying do away with city’s gun laws. [GOP congressman wants his colleagues to be able to carry guns everywhere, including in D.C.] Gowdy frequently tangled with the ranking member of his committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) during the Benghazi hearings. Yet Norton said she looked forward to working with him. “I’ve always found him to be honest in what he says,” she said Wednesday before their meeting. “That may come from being a prosecutor. Prosecutors, unlike members of Congress, are not supposed to exaggerate and go beyond what they can prove or show.” Gowdy said Friday he doesn’t expect he and Norton will agree on all issues, but he pledged to be straight with her. “I’m going to do things that she does not like,” he said. “There will be no surprises. She will know about them ahead of time.” As chairman of a subcommittee with jurisdiction over the District in 2011 and 2012, Gowdy said he “did not foray into the affairs of the District of Columbia beyond that which I thought was unavoidable, and that won’t change.” Gowdy said he has no plans to hold hearings on the city’s assisted suicide law. Members of Congress, especially those on the Appropriations Committee, however, could add a provision to a spending bill to halt the city’s law, known as Death with Dignity, or another policy they oppose. “I’m not planning on doing it and under the heading that investigations don’t have to result in hearings, it may be that we gather facts on that and then we just determine that we’re not going to exercise jurisdiction,” he said. “I was not elected the mayor of the District of Columbia,” he said, repeating a line he has used often since being tapped for the chairmanship. “I don’t think I would do well if I ran, and I don’t think Ms. Holmes Norton would do fabulously well in Jim DeMint’s old congressional district.” |