House votes to overturn DC criminal code and voting laws

By ASHRAF KHALIL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-held House has launched the first salvo in what could be a long-running feud with the District of Columbia over self-government in the nation’s capital. In back-to-back votes, the House voted to overturn a sweeping rewrite of the criminal code passed by the City Council last year and a new local law that grants noncitizens the right to vote in local elections. Congressional oversight of the district is written into the Constitution. And while it’s been more than 30 years since Congress outright nullified a local D.C. law, Congress has frequently used budget riders to alter the district’s laws on issues ranging from abortion funding to marijuana legalization.