The office of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and some in Congress are questioning whether the federal burden being placed on the District during the upcoming Inaguration is too much, the Post reports. The office of Virginia Rep. Tom Davis (R) — who chairs the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District — said the White House is putting forth an “unfunded mandate.” The White House says homeland security funds are being used to provided for “increasing hospital capacity, equipping firefighters with protective gear and building transit system command centers.”
The Post reports that the federal government has asked D.C. to use part of its $240 million in homeland security support for the Inauguration which is “money awarded to the city because it is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack.”
And what about the actual effect of an influx of people coming to town for Inauguration? Well there’s going to be some traffic. (Possibly a good reason why Restaurant Week is this week, if we say so.)
D.C.’s delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, is asking that federal workers be dismissed the day before the Jan. 20 Inauguration
to avoid worsening gridlock in and out of downtown. The Post quotes Norton’s office as indicating that the streets around the Ellipse will be closing at 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 19 as a special ceremony is planned for that day. (So beware Virginia-bound drivers during that afternoon rush hour.)
