Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.)

It’s a new day for D.C. voting rights. Oh wait, no it’s not.

After Tuesday’s national shellacking, Democrats lost both control of the U.S. House of Representatives and, presumably, the ability to at least nominally support the District’s attempt at gaining voting rights and self-determination. While legislation granting the District a full voting seat in the House never moved forward under Democratic control, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton again gained a vote on the floor, controversial prohibitions on various D.C. programs were lifted, the city’s same-sex marriage law was protected from congressional interference and there was even talk of doing away with the pesky requirement that all D.C. laws and budgets go to Congress for final approval.

But now, it looks like we’ll have Rep. Jason Chaffetz to contend with. The Utah Republican, who recently tried to bone up on his local cred by eating at every Five Guys and Matchbox in the city, is no fan of marriage equality or medical marijuana and has said he’s going into meeting Mayor-elect Vince Gray with a clean slate — provided Gray says nothing of local autonomy. That for the next two years we have to deal with a Tea Party fan who firmly believes in treading on us is a cruel irony for sure. (Then again, the Post is reporting some fascinating news — Chaffetz may well be assigned to another subcommittee, relieving him and us from his District overlord duties.)