BEN NUCKOLS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia’s top lawyer says Congress made clear when it granted home-rule authority to the city that it wanted to keep control of the “purse strings.”

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the D.C. Council argued before a federal appeals court Friday that Congress wouldn’t be giving up anything significant if it allowed the District government to spend its own money without an OK from Capitol Hill.

Friday’s arguments were the latest development in a strange court battle that’s pitting two branches of the District government against each other over an issue they agree on. Both believe the city ought to be able to spend local tax dollars without approval by Congress. But the council thinks the city already has that power, thanks to a referendum that passed last year.

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