Congress blocks a Washington D.C. tax law.

What it does

Congress passed a resolution to reject a tax law. The D.C. Council approved it on December 20, 2025. The law would have changed how D.C. taxes income and business franchises. Congress blocked the law from taking effect. This happened under the Home Rule Act.

Who it affects

D.C. residents and their elected D.C. Council lose power to set tax rules. Congress, where D.C. has no voting members, made this decision instead.

One thing to notice

D.C. citizens cannot vote for Congress members. Yet Congress can veto laws their leaders pass.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.

• Jan 22, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 22, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”
• Feb 4, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 215 - 210 (Roll no. 56). (text: CR H2002)”
• Feb 12, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 49 - 47. Record Vote Number: 37”
• Feb 12, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• Feb 18, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-78”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 4 reports from Mar 2026 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $20,680,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 100 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 72% of bills with any report.

Brandon Gill, who sponsored the bill, received $418,350 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $19,750,000 in 1 report
• National Association of Wholesaler-distributors — $490,000 in 1 report
• American Federation of Teachers — $410,000 in 1 report
• Council of the District of Columbia — $30,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• resolution — A formal decision made by Congress or another government body.
• Home Rule Act — A law that lets Congress veto decisions made by D.C.'s elected government.
• income — Money that a person or business earns.
• veto — To reject or block something from happening.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.