After D.C. Police logged more than $40 million in overtime in recent months to staff protests and civil unrest, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation Tuesday to get a better handle on the costs.

The bill, passed unanimously, requires a monthly report to the Council if the Metropolitan Police Department has overtime spending 5% above what the budget allows. It would also require justification for the overtime costs.

“We are not even telling them they can’t spend the money,” said Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1). “We are just saying we need to see what you’re spending.”

The bill goes into effect immediately if Mayor Muriel Bowser approves, or if the Council votes to override a mayoral veto. The bill would last for 90 days.

In a letter obtained by the Washington Post, Bowser blasted the council for the bill.

“We do not have the luxury of simply declaring that we will not work to keep our residents, visitors, and businesses safe, that we will not facilitate peaceful First Amendment assemblies and demonstrations, or that we will not support presidential movements when they occur,” Bowser wrote.

“While there is clearly value, for some, in expressions of performative acts of resistance, those who provide essential public services do not have the ability to engage in such actions.”

In October, Bowser reprogrammed $43 million of the District’s budget to pay for police overtime. The District has asked for federal funds to pay for the expenses that covered demonstrations over policing, the virtual Republican National Convention at the White House and Fourth of July, according to the Washington Post. So far, no luck.

Because the District must have a balanced budget, they pulled from other places.

“The funds were taken from the Department of Health Care Finance, the Child and Family Services Agency, and the Workforce Investment Fund that had been allocated for the modernization of the Alliance Healthcare Program, funding the Grandparent Caregiver Program, and funding many other critical District services that serve our most vulnerable populations and that have seen cuts during these trying times,” a Council resolution states.

“In the midst of contentious negotiations about MPD’s budget over the summer, the Mayor effectively wrote MPD a blank check and provided the Council with no prior notice, thereby denying the Council the opportunity to raise a timely objection.”

It’s the latest volley in the fight over police spending.

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