Washington Council

The Washington Council, or Council of the District of Columbia, is the legislative body of the local Washington Government. Even though it is the city council of the capital of the United States, it still has less power than any other American city council. This is because, according to the US Constitution, the District of Columbia is under the control of Congress, and therefore the latter can overrule any decision made by the DC council. On the other hand, since the District is not part of a state, Congress has granted it several powers usually exercised only by state governments.

The council of Washington DC The council is made up of thirteen members, elected by residents of the District to serve a four-year term. Council members are distributed thus: the chairman of the council, elected by the electorate of the entire District; eight members, elected from each of the District's eight wards; four at-large members representing the whole District and who are elected every two years. The requirements to hold a position in the council are residency of the District of Columbia for at least one year before the general election, being a registered voter, if running for a particular ward, then being a resident of that ward, and not hold any other public office for which compensation beyond expenses is received.

The Washington council has several committed, which are the committee of the whole, the committee on aging and community affairs, the committee on economic development, the committee on finance and revenue, the committee on government operations and the environment, the committee on health, the committee on housing and workforce development, the committee on human services, the committee on libraries, parks and recreation, the committee on public safety and the judiciary,

the committee on public services and consumer affairs and the committee on public works and transportation.