Opinion

Technically, as chair of the DC Statehood Green Party, Darryl Moch is the leader of the city’s oldest progressive political organization. That should give him a leg up in the race for an at-large DC Council seat in the November general…

An open letter to Democratic mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George from the Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities (C4DC): Selecting the next chancellor of DC Public Schools will be one of the new mayoral administration’s most…

The promise ranked choice voting (RCV) proponents made nearly two years ago was that new people would get elected to more offices with more votes. If the June primary is any indication, that was all talk. For the most part, the winners…

People care. That's what our social worker said after sharing her case notes on Ms. Rose, a new client referred to us by a local bank teller. Ms. Rose (a pseudonym) had returned to the bank multiple times over a week’s time,…

“The council is bringing this on itself,” Jack Evans, a former Ward 2 legislator and expert on District finances, said earlier this week during an interview with me about yet another congressional encroachment into the local government’s…

It could be, as some people have suggested, that Elissa Silverman's arrival back to the John A. Wilson Building as an at-large councilmember is karma's work. She might claim otherwise, saying that hard work and determination are what…

Summer concert season is here, but the usual enthusiasm among District residents is not. Across the country, reports have emerged of softer ticket sales. After years of rising ticket prices — concert ticket prices having surged 105%…

Since 2020, when Mayor Muriel Bowser and her deputy mayor for health and human services, Wayne Turnage, decided to reorganize the city’s multibillion-dollar Medicaid managed care program in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic,…

The DC Council created an expert advisory panel in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This year the mayor and council have agreed to kill the District’s Homeland Security Commission despite solid successes during its 20-year…

Between the DC Council’s first budget vote on June 9 and its second earlier this week, its proposed spending jumped by $50 million — ultimately exceeding by nearly $500 million Mayor Muriel Bowser’s initial proposal. That add-on…

This month, the DC Council voted to reverse most of the mayor's proposed cuts to early childhood programs, adding roughly $60 million to the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund and nearly $50 million to the childcare subsidy program…

DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson may not seem a Yoda doppelganger: He lacks pointy ears; he is also considerably taller and much younger than the Star Wars Jedi Master. What’s more, compared to the Galactic Republic, DC’s government is…

As we approach DC’s first mayoral transition in over a decade, it is worth taking stock of how the city is performing on public safety, and how the next mayor can continue to move us further toward being one of America’s safest cities. …

On Sunday, just two days before the DC Council voted unanimously to give initial approval to the city’s nearly $22 billion Fiscal Year 2027 Budget and Financial Plan, I asked Chair Phil Mendelson whether it would be fair to say that he and…

We are parents of public charter school students from different wards, different schools and different backgrounds. But this week we are joining together with families from across the District to demand that the DC Council treat our…

Next week, the DC Council is expected to take the first of two votes on Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed $21.2 billion Fiscal Year 2027 Budget and Financial Plan. Don’t expect a smooth landing. The budget, combined with concerns…

“While change is good, prepared leadership is better,” Kevin Chavous said as he introduced himself during the DC Office of Campaign Finance’s at-large primary debate late last month. He is one of nine Democrats hoping to hit the lottery…

“It’s nice to see everyone so willing to work together,” journalist Michael Brice-Saddler quipped while moderating the recent debate sponsored by the DC Office of Campaign Finance principally for candidates certified under the Fair…

At a recent mayoral forum, moderator Dwayne Lawson-Brown asked the candidates to use three words to describe their political style. “Principled. Resilient. Effective,” said Ward 4 DC Councilmember Janeese Lewis George. “Bold.…

Last month, DC Justice Lab convened nearly 30 organizations to stand together on the steps of the Wilson Building and release the 2026 DC Public Safety Policy Agenda, a set of recommendations developed by policy experts, individuals…