The House put off consideration of legislation giving the District of Columbia a vote in Congress after a move by Republicans to tie it to a measure that would overturn a district gun ban.
Lawmakers were debating a measure under which the heavily Democratic district would gain a member of Congress with full voting rights, and a new representative from reliably Republican Utah would join the House, expanding its number of lawmakers to 437 from 435.
Democrats halted action on the legislation because Republicans appeared likely to attach a proposal to overturn a gun ban in the district, and Democrats didn’t want to run any risk that it might pass.
This month, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ended a 3- decade-old city law banning residents from keeping handguns in their homes. That decision is still being litigated.
“Republicans played a parliamentary game,” said Stacey Bernards, spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Democratic leaders haven’t determined when the bill will come back up for a vote, she said.
Critics, including the Bush administration, oppose giving the district a congressional vote on constitutional grounds. White House officials said President Bush will be advised to veto the legislation, should it pass the House and Senate.
