Editing Washington, D.C. (section)

== City government ==
{{Main|Government of the District of Columbia}}

=== Politics ===
{{Main|Elections in the District of Columbia}}
{{See also|District of Columbia home rule|List of District of Columbia symbols}}
[[File:John A. Wilson Building west side.jpg|thumb|The [[John A. Wilson Building]] on [[Pennsylvania Avenue]], headquarters for much of the [[Government of the District of Columbia]], including the offices of the [[Mayor of the District of Columbia|mayor]] and [[Council of the District of Columbia|D.C. Council]]]]
[[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article One, Section Eight of the United States Constitution]] grants the [[United States Congress]] exclusive jurisdiction over the city. The district did not have an elected local government until passage of the [[District of Columbia Home Rule Act|1973 Home Rule Act]], which  devolved certain Congressional powers to an [[Mayor of the District of Columbia|elected mayor]] and a 13-member [[Council of the District of Columbia]]. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/pages/dc-home-rule |title=DC Home Rule |publisher=Council of the District of Columbia |access-date=December 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117031522/http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/pages/dc-home-rule |archive-date=November 17, 2011}}</ref> Washington, D.C., is [[Political party strength in the District of Columbia|overwhelmingly Democratic]], [[United States presidential elections in the District of Columbia|having voted]] for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] presidential candidates consistently since it was granted electoral votes in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 presidential election]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Presidential voting trends in the District of Columbia |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_voting_trends_in_the_District_of_Columbia |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en}}</ref>

Each of the city's eight [[Ward (country subdivision)|wards]] elects a single member of the council and residents elect four at-large members to represent the district as a whole. The council chair is also elected at-large.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dcboee.org/candidate_info/elected_officials/elected.asp |title=Current Elected Officials in DC |access-date=January 11, 2012 |publisher=D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics |archive-date=December 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213133659/http://www.dcboee.org/candidate_info/elected_officials/elected.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> There are 37 [[Advisory Neighborhood Commission]]s (ANCs) elected by small neighborhood districts. ANCs can issue recommendations on all issues that affect residents; government agencies take their advice under careful consideration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://anc.dc.gov/page/about-anc |title=About ANC |access-date=September 22, 2012 |publisher=Government of the District of Columbia |archive-date=September 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915003209/http://anc.dc.gov/page/about-anc |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Attorney General of the District of Columbia|attorney general of the District of Columbia]] is elected to a four-year term.<ref>{{cite web |title=§&nbsp;1–204.35. Election of the Attorney General. |url=http://dccode.org/simple/sections/1-204.35.html |website=Code of the District of Columbia (Unofficial) |publisher=Open Law DC |access-date=January 2, 2015 |archive-date=January 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102183010/http://dccode.org/simple/sections/1-204.35.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Washington, D.C., observes all [[Federal holidays in the United States|federal holidays]] and also celebrates [[Emancipation Day]] on April 16, which commemorates the end of slavery in the district.<ref name=emancipation /> The [[flag of Washington, D.C.]], was adopted in 1938 and is a variation on George Washington's family [[coat of arms]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Glaser |first=Jason |title=Washington, D.C. |year=2003 |publisher=Capstone |isbn=978-0-7368-2204-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/washingtondc0000glas/page/55 55] |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtondc0000glas |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Washington, D.C., has been a member state of the [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO) since 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNPO: District of Columbia (Washington, DC) |work=unpo.org |access-date=November 4, 2021 |url=https://unpo.org/members/18770 |date=December 4, 2015 |archive-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023192317/https://unpo.org/members/18770 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The idiom "[[Inside the Beltway]]" is a reference used to describe discussions of national political issues inside of Washington, D.C., by way of geographically demarcating the region inside the [[Capital's Beltway]], the city's highway loop constructed in 1964. The phrase is used as a title for a number of political columns and news items by publications, including ''[[The Washington Times]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-beltway-as-a-target-of-populists-1510871274|title=Why 'Inside the Beltway' Is a Target of Populists|date=November 17, 2017|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=April 8, 2022|archive-date=May 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511141050/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-beltway-as-a-target-of-populists-1510871274|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Budgetary issues ===
[[File:Muriel Bowser official photo.jpg|thumb|[[Muriel Bowser]], the city's mayor since 2015]]
The mayor and council set local taxes and a budget, which Congress must approve. The [[Government Accountability Office]] and other analysts have estimated that the city's high percentage of tax-exempt property and the Congressional prohibition of commuter taxes create a structural deficit in the district's local budget of anywhere between $470&nbsp;million and over $1&nbsp;billion per year. Congress typically provides additional grants for federal programs such as [[Medicaid]] and the operation of the [[National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997|local justice system]]; however, analysts claim that the payments do not fully resolve the imbalance.<ref name=DCAppleseed>{{cite web |title=Building the Best Capital City in the World |url=http://www.dcappleseed.org/library/DC%20Appleseed%20Report.FINAL.pdf |publisher=DC Appleseed |access-date=February 5, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511193725/http://www.dcappleseed.org/library/DC%20Appleseed%20Report.FINAL.pdf |archive-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name=GAO>{{cite web |title=District of Columbia Structural Imbalance and Management Issues |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03666.pdf |publisher=Government Accountability Office |date=May 2003 |access-date=February 5, 2011 |archive-date=February 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202235328/http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03666.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The city's local government, particularly during the mayoralty of [[Marion Barry]], has been criticized for mismanagement and waste.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Powell |title=Poor Management, Federal Rule, Undermine Services |date=July 20, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/mismanage/manage20.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=A01 |access-date=June 10, 2008 |archive-date=May 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504041509/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/mismanage/manage20.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> During Barry's term as mayor, ''[[Washington Monthly]]'' magazine labeled the city "the worst city government in America" in 1989.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+worst+city+government+in+America-a06977500 |title=The worst city government in America. |last=DeParle |first=Jason |date=January 1, 1989 |work=The Washington Monthly |access-date=June 6, 2009 |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430052114/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+worst+city+government+in+America-a06977500 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1995, at the start of Barry's fourth term, Congress created the [[District of Columbia Financial Control Board]] to oversee all municipal spending.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Janofsky |title=Congress creates board to oversee Washington, D.C. |date=April 8, 1995 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7DB1739F93BA35757C0A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 27, 2008 |archive-date=September 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919021500/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7DB1739F93BA35757C0A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> Mayor [[Anthony A. Williams|Anthony Williams]] won election in 1998 and oversaw a period of [[urban renewal]] and budget surpluses.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The district regained control over its finances in 2001 and the oversight board's operations were suspended.<ref>{{cite news |last=DeBonis |first=Mike |title=After 10 years, D.C. control board is gone but not forgotten |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/30/AR2011013003901.html |access-date=July 11, 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 30, 2011 |archive-date=October 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016220602/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/30/AR2011013003901.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The district has a federally funded "Emergency Planning and Security Fund" to cover security related to visits by foreign leaders and diplomats, presidential inaugurations, protests, and terrorism concerns. During the Trump administration, the fund has run with a deficit. Trump's January 2017 inauguration cost the city $27&nbsp;million; of that, $7&nbsp;million was never repaid to the fund. Trump's 2019 Independence Day event, "A Salute to America", cost six times more than Independence Day events in past years.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/trumps-july-fourth-event-and-weekend-protests-bankrupted-dc-security-fund-mayor-says/2019/07/10/fb0d1de4-a316-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html |title=Trump's July Fourth event and weekend protests bankrupted D.C. security fund, mayor says |last=Jamison |first=Peter |date=July 10, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=July 10, 2019 |archive-date=July 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710182846/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/trumps-july-fourth-event-and-weekend-protests-bankrupted-dc-security-fund-mayor-says/2019/07/10/fb0d1de4-a316-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== International relations ===
[[File:French ambassador's residence - Washington, D.C..jpg|thumb|The [[French ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C.|French ambassador's residence]] in the [[Sheridan-Kalorama Historic District]]]]
As the national capital, Washington, D.C. hosts about 185 foreign missions, including embassies, ambassador's residences, and international cultural centers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Embassies & Foreign Missions |url=https://www.ncpc.gov/topics/embassies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319194924/https://www.ncpc.gov/topics/embassies/ |archive-date=March 19, 2024 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=www.ncpc.gov}}</ref> Many are concentrated along a stretch of [[Massachusetts Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Massachusetts Avenue]] known informally as [[Embassy Row]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldchain |first1=Michelle |title=DC by Metro: A History & Guide |date=2019 |publisher=[[The History Press (United States)|The History Press]] |isbn=9781467140140 |location=Charleston, South Carolina |pages=51–53}}</ref> Washington, D.C., hosts a number of internationally themed festivals and events, often in collaboration with foreign missions or delegations.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} The city government maintains an Office of International Affairs to liaise with the diplomatic community and foreign delegations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Office of International Affairs {{!}} os |url=https://os.dc.gov/service/office-international-affairs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319194924/https://os.dc.gov/service/office-international-affairs |archive-date=March 19, 2024 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=os.dc.gov}}</ref> D.C. has 15 official [[sister city]] agreements or protocols of friendship.{{efn|Listed in the order each agreement was first established, D.C.'s sister cities are [[Bangkok]], Thailand; [[Dakar]], Senegal; [[Beijing]], China; [[Brussels]], Belgium; [[Athens]], Greece; [[Paris]], France; [[Pretoria]], South Africa; [[Seoul]], South Korea; [[Accra]], Ghana; [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]], United Kingdom; [[Rome]], Italy; [[Ankara]], Turkey; [[Brasília]], Brazil; [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia; and [[San Salvador]], El Salvador. Each of the listed cities is a national capital except for Sunderland, which includes the town of [[Washington, Tyne and Wear|Washington]], the ancestral home of George Washington's family.<ref name="Sunderland">{{cite web |title=DC Sister Cities |url=http://os.dc.gov/service/dc-sister-cities |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104133547/http://os.dc.gov/service/dc-sister-cities |archive-date=November 4, 2015 |access-date=August 13, 2019 |publisher=D.C. Office of the Secretary}}</ref>}}