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HR 5856
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District of Columbia Government Title Equality Act

To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to redesignate the Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia as the Office of the Governor of the District of Columbia and to redesignate the Council of the District of Columbia as the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

Introduced Oct 28, 2025

Latest action (Oct 28, 2025) Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Referred to
Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Policy area
Government Operations and Politics
Issues
Voting & Elections

Summary

The bill changes the official titles of District of Columbia government positions to align with standard state government terminology. The position of Mayor becomes Governor, the City Council becomes the Legislative Assembly, and Council Members become Representatives of the Legislative Assembly. Additionally, the Council Chair becomes the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. The bill provides that individuals currently holding these positions are deemed to hold the new titles, and updates all references to these offices in federal and D.C. law and regulations.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Actions (3)
  1. Oct 28, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. · house
  2. Oct 28, 2025 Introduced in House
  3. Oct 28, 2025 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1009)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 1173 — Equal Federal Funding for the District of Columbia Act · Introduced Feb 10, 2025 · Cong. 119 74%
  • HR 69 — Freedom to Petition the Government Act · Introduced Jan 3, 2025 · Cong. 119 70%
  • HR 565 — District of Columbia Federal Judicial Officials Residency Equality Act of 2025 · Introduced Jan 20, 2025 · Cong. 119 67%
  • HR 6950 — District of Columbia Transportation Funding Equality Act · Introduced Jan 7, 2026 · Cong. 119 67%
  • HR 6339 — District of Columbia Special Elections Home Rule Act · Introduced Dec 1, 2025 · Cong. 119 66%
  • HR 4055 — District of Columbia Legislative Autonomy Act of 1998 · Introduced Jun 17, 1998 · Cong. 105 66%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Oct 28, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 28, 2025

Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

A BILL

To amend the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to redesignate the Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia as the Office of the Governor of the District of Columbia and to redesignate the Council of the District of Columbia as the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “District of Columbia Government Title Equality Act”.

SEC. 2. REDESIGNATION OF OFFICE OF MAYOR OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AS OFFICE OF GOVERNOR OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

(a) Redesignation.—Section 421(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-204.21(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended to read as follows:

“(a) There is established the Office of the Governor of the District of Columbia, and the Governor shall be elected by the registered qualified electors of the District.”.

(b) Treatment of Current Mayor.—For purposes of section 421(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, as amended by subsection (a), the individual holding the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia as of the date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to have been elected to the Office of Governor of the District of Columbia by the registered qualified electors of the District.

(c) References in Law.—Any reference to the Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia in any law, rule, or regulation of the United States or the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to the Office of the Governor of the District of Columbia, and any reference to the Mayor of the District of Columbia in any law, rule, or regulation of the United States or the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to the Governor of the District of Columbia.

SEC. 3. REDESIGNATION OF COUNCIL OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AS LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

(a) Redesignation.—Section 401(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-204.01(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended to read as follows:

“(a) There is established a Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia, consisting of Representatives who shall be elected by the registered qualified electors of the District.”.

(b) Treatment of Current Members.—For purposes of section 401(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, as amended by subsection

(a), any individual holding the Office of Member of the Council of the District of Columbia as of the date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to have been elected to the Office of Representative of the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia by the registered qualified electors of the District.

(c) References in Law.—Any reference to the Council of the District of Columbia in any law, rule, or regulation of the United States or the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia, and any reference to a Member of the Council of the District of Columbia in any law, rule, or regulation of the United States or the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to a Representative of the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia.

SEC. 4. REDESIGNATION OF CHAIR OF COUNCIL OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AS SPEAKER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

(a) Redesignation.—Section 411(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-204.11(a) D.C. Official Code) is amended to read as follows:

“(a) The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia shall be the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly.”.

(b) Treatment of Current Chair.—For purposes of section 411(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, as amended by subsection (a), the individual holding the Office of Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia as of the date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to have been elected to the Office of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia by the registered qualified electors of the District.

(c) References in Law.—Any reference to the Office of the Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia in any law, rule, or regulation of the United States or the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to the Office of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia, and any reference to the Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia in any law, rule, or regulation of the United States or the District of Columbia shall be deemed to refer to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the District of Columbia. <all>

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