WASHINGTON—Congressional Republicans want to sabotage the capital city’s incoming progressive government, and the owners of the DoorDash food delivery app, upset over having to pay their fair share of taxes in D.C., are helping them do it.
Led by House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky, the GOP passed HR 9720, also known as the D.C. Taxing Authority Review Act, on July 22. If passed by the Senate, the bill will strip the D.C.’s local government of control over its own budget and tax revenue, eroding nearly all of Home Rule.
This attack by Republicans was a response to D.C. decoupling its local tax code in the wake of the passage of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” in 2025. D.C.’s action helped restore some of the revenue lost after $1.1 billion was cut from the District in the spring of last year.
Comer also admitted that the victory of democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George in the Democratic mayoral primary—which essentially guarantees her elevation to the District’s top spot in the November general election—as a reason he brought the bill forward. “We don’t want to see more economic decline in the city as a result of a socialist takeover,” he said.
It is clear that MAGA Republicans want to put a fiscal blockade on the Lewis George and the D.C. Council. The local government, under this bill, would lose all of its ability to raise taxes to generate revenue for the District, furthering the destruction of the local economy by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans.
DoorDash, the gig food delivery app that makes nearly $14 billion in annual revenue, jumped in on Republicans’ attack because of a tax on their business by imposed by the D.C. Council. As part of its recent local budget deliberations, the council approved a 20-cent fee to help fund food access for low-income families which were cut by the outgoing mayor.
DoorDash lobbied heavily against this fee which would create much needed revenue for the District, but the company lost. So, they turned their efforts toward taking advantage of D.C.’s semi-colonial status and wrote a letter to the House Oversight Committee backing HR 9720.
The company told congressional Republicans, “We believe this is a reasonable check against the hastily enacted local taxes and fees that fall hardest on small businesses and the residents who depend on them.”
The response to this corporate interference was strong and immediate.
D.C. Shadow Senator Ankit Jain said, “I am here at the House Oversight markup of HR 9720, which would functionally end D.C. Home Rule. We just learned that DoorDash pushed this bill and is actively working with Republicans in Congress to attack our self-governance. I think it’s time for a D.C. DoorDash boycott. Shame!”
DoorDash responded on X, alleging Jain’s statement was “not true.” Posing as a defender of the poor, the company claimed “did not push this bill” and actually supports Home Rule for D.C. “What we’ve opposed is a tax on groceries, diapers, SNAP orders, and medications—passed with zero public hearings—that falls hardest on seniors, people with mobility issues, and working families. Asking Congress to take a closer look isn’t an attack on self-governance.”
That left local progressive leaders questioning whether DoorDash executives and lobbyists even know how D.C. Home Rule works, because this House bill is absolutely an attack on the District’s autonomy and self-governance.
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker chimed in and said, “Every District resident should know that DoorDash doesn’t support D.C. Home Rule and is actively working to undermine it by lobbying for the GOP’s efforts to control D.C. tax policies. Govern yourselves accordingly, neighbors.”
At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson stated, “You cannot claim to support D.C. Home Rule and simultaneously publicly advocate for a bill that cripples the District’s ability to compete for economic development.”
Incoming House Delegate and At-Large Councilmember Robert White said, “This morning I attended a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting, where members advanced a deeply anti-D.C. bill that could devastate our economy and undermine our ability to govern our own city.
“I was stunned to learn that DoorDash, a company that employs tens of thousands of Dashers in D.C. and partners with thousands of D.C. merchants, sent a letter supporting one of the biggest assaults on D.C. in decades.
“It is absolutely outrageous that a company profiting from our city would support legislation that could do such serious harm to it. I have contacted DoorDash and demanded an explanation. Washingtonians deserve answers, and I will report back when I receive them.”
Free D.C., the coalition leading the fight to defend the District’s limited Home Rule, quickly came out against DoorDash, saying, “DoorDash has been silent on the arrests and deaths of delivery drivers in D.C., and just came out in support of HR 9720, a blatant attack on DC’s Home Rule.”
The campaign is demanding that DoorDash:
- Issue a public statement against ICE and other federal police who are hunting and killing delivery drivers in the street;
- State publicly that the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force” should end; and
- Immediately withdraw their support for HR 9720.
Free D.C. is encouraging D.C. residents and allies outside of the District to delete their DoorDash accounts and apps and to send them a message via phone or email announcing why they’re doing so. They are also asking supporters to screen-shot themselves deleting the app and post about their decision on social media.
DoorDash jumping into municipal and national policy fights is not new. The company caught a lot of pushback after taking part in Trump’s stunt at the White House using an elderly DoorDash delivery driver to promote his supposed “No Tax on Tips” policy within the Big Beautiful Bill.
The company has also lobbied against bills in California that would allow their workers to no longer be categorized as “independent contractors” and thus make them eligible to unionize for fair wages. They also pushed against local oversight regulations in D.C. in 2024.
DoorDash is now in the line of fire from pro-democracy advocates and the residents of D.C. who want the District free of federal interference. Advocates are now watching to see whether their campaign can impact DoorDash in the same way that a wave of anti-MAGA boycotts have hit other companies, including Target, Home Depot, Avelo, and others.
They’re hoping the delivery gig company will be forced to shift gears and stop supporting policies that encourage more intense exploitation of their workers and the extraction of even more exorbitant profits from their customers.
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