Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)

When Congress has had to deal with issues directly pertaining to D.C., it’s been left to an out-of-the-way subcommittee chaired by someone who either doesn’t know much about the city or feels it is their right to lord over us in an imperial manner. In the 112th Congress, for example, it was the responsibility of the House Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives.

But that’s now changing. According to D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has decided to place D.C. matters before the full committee, which he chairs. In a statement, Norton expressed outright elation with the idea, saying that Issa has been a good friend to D.C. during the last two years.

“I have just learned that District of Columbia matters will be considered in the full committee rather than the usual subcommittee. I am delighted about this change, which is the arrangement I requested when former Congressman Tom Davis (R-Va.) chaired the committee. Chairman Darrell Issa has shown the same deep knowledge and concern for District issues and respect for the city’s home rule and its general welfare. The direct involvement of a chairman who wants to strengthen the city and its presence in the Congress cannot be overemphasized,” said Norton.

There’s probably good reason for Norton to be happy: Issa has pushed a budget autonomy bill (albeit with a restriction on local abortion spending remaining in place), requested a study on the possibility of raising building height limits within the city and even entertained the idea of allowing D.C. to impose a commuter tax. In the grand scheme of Republican congressional overlords, he’s been about as permissive and benign as one could hope for. (To be fair, former D.C. subcommittee chair Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) was quite deferential to city officials.)

“Chairman Issa has his own D.C. budget autonomy bill, which mirrors my own, and he was immensely helpful this Congress not only in getting D.C. legislation through his committee, but also on matters concerning the District in the Congress. On his own initiative, Chairman Issa held the first hearing on the Height Act in decades and took the first close look at the act since it was passed a century ago, with an eye towards giving the District greater leeway on issues related to building heights in home-town D.C.,” Norton added in her statement.

An additional benefit to the arrangement is that the committee’s ranking minority member is Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who has strongly advocated for D.C. voting rights.