Congress asking if DC government can spend its own money

Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has pledged not to submit this year's local budget to Congress after a judge ruled in favor of the District's so-called "budget autonomy" law, but House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders have cast doubt on whether the city has the authority to take power away from Congress.

Submitting the budget to Congress also forces the city to follow the federal fiscal year, which starts in October, complicating school funding.

Congress established a control board that ran the day-to-day operations of the city and imposed strict financial controls, creating an independent chief financial officer to sign off on all city spending.