WASHINGTON – The Washington, D.C., City Council has unanimously passed emergency legislation allowing Mayor Muriel Bowser to issue marriage licenses during the partial government shutdown.
News outlets report the Let Our Vows Endure Amendment Act of 2019 was passed Tuesday. The legislation will go into effect as soon as Bowser signs it, which she says she plans to do on Thursday.
It will last for 90 days, though some council members say they’d like the award authority to be permanent. Congress allows the District to maintain city operations during a federal shutdown, but local courts are federally funded.
The city court office that issues marriage licenses was deemed nonessential and suspended when a portion of the federal government shutdown last month over funding for President Donald Trump’s promised U.S.-Mexico border wall.
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