A bill to amend the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act to repeal the authority of the President to sustain vetoes by the Mayor of the District of Columbia of acts passed by the Council of the District of Columbia and re-passed by two-thirds of the Council, to change the period during which acts of the Council of the District of Columbia are subject to congressional review, and for other purposes.
Public Law 95-526 · H.R. 12116 · 95th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Oct 27, 1978 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Ronald Dellums (D-CA-8)
Cosponsors (3): Rep. Charles Diggs, Rep. Stewart McKinney,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends the District of Columbia Self Government and Governmental Reorganization Act to stipulate that an act passed by the District of Columbia Council and not signed or returned to it by the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall not become law if the Council prevents the act's return by taking a recess of at least ten days.
Repeals the authority of the President to veto Council measures which have been vetoed by the Mayor and repassed by two-thirds of the Council.
Provides that weekdays on which at least one House of Congress is not in session shall not be excluded in determining the period during which Congress may disapprove an act of the District of Columbia Government unless neither House is in session because of an adjournment sine die, a recess of more than three days, or an adjournment of more than three days.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
District of Columbia Committee · House · referred to, reported by
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Oct 27, 1978Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 95-526.
- Oct 24, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Oct 13, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Oct 12, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- Oct 6, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Sep 13, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Sep 12, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- May 1, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House District of Columbia Committee
- Apr 13, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House District of Columbia Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.