Washington’s locally elected government is under attack from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. But the capital city’s self-proclaimed “warrior on the Hill” is nowhere to be seen on the front lines.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s nonvoting House delegate, issued a written statement Monday after Trump seized control of the city’s police force and moved to send in National Guard troops, calling it “counterproductive,” a “historic assault on D.C. home rule” and “more evidence of the urgent need to pass my D.C. statehood bill.”
But Norton — who has represented the city in the House since 1991 — has not been seen in public or otherwise interacted with the media since, even as other elected Democrats stepped forward to defend D.C.’s autonomy against Trump’s aggressive new actions.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser held an hourlong news conference Monday afternoon where she was flanked by city public safety officials, but not Norton. Her name was also missing from a joint statement released by members of Congress representing D.C.’s suburbs that slammed the police takeover as a “soft launch of authoritarianism.” Several of those lawmakers have since given interviews to POLITICO and other outlets.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday afternoon he had yet to speak to Norton about a response to Trump’s moves, which were announced Monday morning. The New York Democrat said he hoped to have that conversation later in the day.
Norton did not accept an interview request made through a spokesperson, who declined to identify any other interviews or public appearances she has made since Trump escalated his threats against the city late last week.
The spokesperson, Sharon Eliza Nichols, said in a statement that Norton has been “working diligently with Mayor Bowser, city officials and her colleagues discussing how to support the District’s response and prevent further federal incursions against D.C.’s right to handle its own affairs.”
“Congresswoman Norton has proven her dedication to the people of D.C.,” the statement continued. “She understands the unprecedented circumstances the District is in, and her top priority is to ensure that home rule and D.C. residents are protected.”
Norton’s back-seat response to the most serious federal threat to the city’s government in 30 years is out of step with her one-time reputation as a fierce defender of local prerogatives in the face of meddling by federal authorities. Her campaign website still promotes the “warrior” moniker she has used for decades to reflect her often fiery battles with Republicans.
But she is facing mounting questions about her plans to seek a 19th term next year as fellow Democrats privately voice concerns about her fading presence in the House. She has twice told reporters she intends to run again in 2026, but in both instances her staff subsequently said she is undecided.
A campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for an update on her reelection plans.
A person granted anonymity to describe Norton’s thinking said her low-key approach to the joint statement was in keeping with the more conciliatory approach Bowser and other city officials have taken with Trump in his second term. Norton, the person said, does not want to provoke Trump into escalating his attacks on the D.C. government.
Bowser, however, has appeared on camera multiple times since Trump’s announcement to take questions and defend the city’s public safety efforts, as have some D.C. Council members.
The person said Norton wasn’t invited or notified by the mayor’s office about Bowser’s news conference. Another person granted anonymity to comment on the sensitive situation said it was not standard practice to invite federal officials such as Norton to mayoral news conferences. The mayor’s office declined to comment.
Norton was invited to join the joint statement from the Washington-area House delegation but ultimately did not sign on for strategic reasons, the person said.
Behind the scenes, Norton has been involved in marshalling a response to Trump’s actions beyond her Monday statement. Nichols said she has been “actively reaching out to civic associations and other groups of D.C. residents” and helped organize a Monday evening conference call with Bowser and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Norton helped open the conversation, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss the private call, where the lawmakers discussed recent steps taken by the city to address crime.
The CBC occupies a special place in the fight for D.C. voting rights and political autonomy. The group played a key role in securing passage of the Home Rule Act in 1973 creating the city’s locally elected government — one of the caucus’s first major legislative victories following its founding in 1969.
CBC Chair Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said in a Tuesday statement that the group will “continue fighting to protect D.C.’s right to self-governance and we urge all Americans to recognize this for what it is: a test run for broader authoritarian overreach.”
“The stakes are high not just for Washington, D.C., but for the future of democracy in every corner of this country,” Clarke continued.
Most elected Democrats are loath to publicly criticize Norton given her long record of fighting for the city — including during the mid-1990s, when Congress imposed a financial control board to manage most city affairs. Norton was instrumental in pushing through legislation that recalibrated the city’s relationship with Congress and is widely seen as setting the stage for its economic rebirth and population growth over the following two decades.
Many also believe that Trump would have gone after the District regardless of what its elected officials said or did in the lead-up to his announcements Monday. But others contend that, without an actual vote in Congress, the D.C. delegate’s foremost responsibility is to rally support for the city and make the case for its autonomy to the American public.
Kinney Zalesne, a former DNC official who is running against Norton, said in a Tuesday interview that “there’s an opportunity here for the D.C. delegate to be a loud and consistent and powerful and unrelenting voice for D.C. to Congress, to the administration and to the rest of the nation.”
“One or two statements” did not meet that standard, she said: “We need to tell the truth about this federal overreach — that it’s unnecessary, inappropriate and potentially illegal.”
Norton’s Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, voiced support — even as some said they had not spoken to her amid this moment of crisis.
“I’m going to continue to support her and D.C., because many of my constituents work in D.C.,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, who represents a district in the Virginia suburbs. “I know people have brought up the issue of her ability to serve. … I haven’t had a problem serving with her.”
Jeffries, speaking to reporters Tuesday in Illinois, said “I have not had a conversation with Delegate Norton as of yet, but have been in communication with Mayor Bowser [and] indicated that we are going to strongly support her efforts to defend the sovereignty and integrity of the District of Columbia.”
“I look forward to connecting with her at some point later on today,” he added later.
Shia Kapos contributed to this report from Springfield, Illinois.
