A republic worthy
of its capital.
DC residents are Americans in every way — except the rights that come with it. We're fighting to fix that.
700,000 Americans. Governed by a Congress We Can't Vote For. It shows.
The people of Washington, DC raise families, start businesses, and build communities. But not on our own terms.
When Congress blocked our budget and stripped a billion dollars of our own tax revenue, it's not an abstraction. It's why your kids' class size got bigger. It's why 911 calls go to voicemail. It's why the pothole on your block isn't fixed. And what do we get in return? The National Guard in our streets and a federal takeover of our police.
Statehood remains essential. But change doesn't have to wait. We've come too far to stop now.
Response
A strategy for change that doesn’t wait for Congress.
Three interconnected efforts: mapping the problem, building the legal argument, and taking it into every venue that matters.
We built a comprehensive database of every provision in federal law where DC is treated differently from the states: identifying where and how Congress has acted, and where the legal vulnerabilities lie.
Explore the database →Congress has a lot of power in DC, but it's not a blank check. We argue courts have made a mistake: they have treated Congress's power to protect the federal capital as if it also gives Congress unlimited power to run the daily life of the people who live there. Forthcoming in the GW Law Review Arguendo.
Read the paper →We’re applying the framework in courts, before agencies, legislators, and the public — because the fight for DC’s rights isn’t limited to one place.
Recent
highlights.
Research, testimony, and public-facing advocacy translating legal theory into action.
The Bifurcation Test
A new framework for challenging congressional overreach in DC governance. 95 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo (forthcoming 2026).
DC Council Testimony on the Federal Takeover of DC's Police
Testimony before the DC Council Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety regarding the Home Rule Act.
Flip the Script
DC is more than the monuments. Learn about our public awareness campaign reframing the narrative around DC disenfranchisement.
Statement on H.J.Res. 142
Congress Blocked DC’s Tax Law. Now What?
About
A legal lab for
constitutional change
Capital Rights Lab is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to expanding democratic rights for DC residents. Why "lab"? Because we're advancing new legal theories, litigation models, policy reforms, and persuasion campaigns to most effectively expand access to representation and equal citizenship.
Our work builds the legal case for expanded rights for DC citizens today, not waiting for Congress to act.
David founded Capital Rights Lab after more than a decade in law and politics in DC — as a policy advisor in the Obama White House, campaign counsel on the Biden and Harris presidential campaigns, and as a litigator at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. He holds a J.D. from Georgetown Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.