Washington Post interview with DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton

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"Norton says budget deal shows D.C. must fight to stay self-governing"

Q: You’ve said you heard from media reports about the riders. What was your first reaction?

A: Each of the short-term continuing resolutions had no riders and we were relieved. The last Republican continuing resolution has two riders, both are apparently in this final bill, although no one has seen the bill. One kept the District from spending its own local funds on abortions for low-income women. The only other rider offended us by seeming to pair us with a prohibition against bringing Guantanamo prisoners to the United States. We could not help but resent the pairing. No elected official in the District of Columbia was consulted about the D.C. vouchers. There were some rumors about the needle-exchange program. I have specifically inquired and gotten no clarification.

What did you do next?

I had been in touch with the administration and the Senate leadership all along because of two fears, the fear of the riders and the fear that shutting down the federal government would shut down the D.C. government.

Is there any chance that this can be reversed?

I am going to try my level best to reverse or mitigate any of this as much as possible. Without seeing the language in the bill it is impossible to know. Converting something into language really tells you what the deal is.