WASHINGTON — The House passed resolutions Thursday to overturn District of Columbia bills that would allow immigrants to vote in local elections and reduce criminal penalties, the first time the chamber has voted to nix local measures in eight years.
The House voted 260-162 to pass the disapproval resolution against a D.C. bill to allow noncitizen voting, with 42 House Democrats voting in favor of the Republican-led measure. The chamber also voted 250-173 to pass a second disapproval measure against a rewrite of the D.C. criminal code, which 31 House Democrats supported.
Democratic Whip Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts had urged her colleagues to vote against both resolutions, which now head to the Democrat-controlled Senate.
