D.C. delegate candidate to send residents into nearby districts to defend city autonomy

# Quick summary Robert White Jr., the presumptive Democratic delegate for the District of Columbia, announced a new campaign called "Defend DC." It aims to push back against recent Republican-led interventions in the district by recruiting, training and transporting D.C. residents to campaign in nearby congressional districts for candidates who support greater local control and D.C. statehood. White also plans to create a political action committee to fund allies.

# What White is proposing

White announced the plan publicly in a downtown Washington plaza and said he will back it with a PAC that will support candidates who favor D.C. autonomy and statehood. He said, "Congress has used its power over D.C. to attack us. So Washingtonians are banding together to use our collective power to change Congress."

# Legal and political background The U.S. Constitution gives Congress authority over the District of Columbia. The Home Rule Act of 1973 allows D.C. residents to elect a mayor, a council and neighborhood commissioners, but Congress retains significant control: it approves the district's budget and can block or change local laws.

The D.C. delegate is a nonvoting member of the House of Representatives. The delegate cannot cast final votes, but can introduce bills and speak on the House floor, providing a formal voice for the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents who lack full voting representation in Congress.

# Why White says this is necessary White's plan follows heightened federal involvement in D.C. under the second Trump administration noted in the announcement, including an extended National Guard deployment that has been continued through 2029. He singled out House members who supported federal deployments and proposed changes to D.C.'s governance as targets for the mobilization.

# Where the campaign will focus The mobilization will focus on House districts that are within driving distance of Washington, specifically in states named by White: Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Jersey. The approach is to influence down-ballot contests by bringing D.C. volunteers into those communities to help elect candidates who promise to respect local control and support statehood.

# What the strategy aims to achieve Tactically, the effort seeks to flip or protect seats held by members who backed federal interventions in D.C. Strategically, it aims to build a coalition of House members who will either oppose future federal takeovers of local authority or support legislation advancing greater autonomy or statehood for the District.

# Potential limits and open questions The plan depends on volunteer recruitment, cross-border campaigning logistics and how voters in targeted districts respond to out-of-state canvassers. Success would also hinge on how much the PAC can raise and whether targeted incumbents face vulnerable reelection campaigns.

# Bottom line