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DOORDASH PUSHES TO END DC’S SELF-GOVERNANCE OVER A 20-CENT TAX  
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Nick Fulton
August 8, 2026
Truthout
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_ If passed, new legislation backed by DoorDash would strip DC of the
ability to change its own tax code. _

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Ever since he reentered office, Donald Trump has laid siege to
Washington, D.C., dropping banners with his face all over federal
buildings, enacting a bizarre “beautification” project, and
unleashing thousands of National Guard members to effectively put the
city under military occupation. Now, as D.C. residents wonder what
awaits the rest of his term, the delivery company DoorDash is joining
forces with Republicans in Congress to further undermine the
capital’s right to govern itself.

That right to govern, otherwise known as home rule, is a precedent
which has allowed Washington, D.C. to elect a mayor, council members,
and neighborhood commissioners who manage the day-to-day affairs of
life in the District. Since the passage of the D.C. Home Rule Act of
1972
[[link removed]],
Republicans and special interest groups have continued to challenge
the District’s ability to make decisions for itself, including when
it comes to taxation.

The DoorDash saga began in July, when the D.C. Council approved a new
20-cent fee
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third-party deliveries. The revenue from the 20-cent tax will go
directly toward addressing food deserts and improving food access
across D.C.

DoorDash unsuccessfully fought the new tax with polls, petitions, and
ads. The company argued that
[[link removed]] the
new measure implemented “regressive taxes that hit small businesses
and working families the hardest.”

After losing the fight against this new tax with the D.C. government,
DoorDash quickly pivoted to a new medium: Congress. Just days after
the new tax was approved by the council, Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky)
introduced a resolution with significant support from DoorDash that
would “functionally end home rule” in Washington, D.C.

While sources familiar with the law — H.R. 9720, the D.C. Taxing
Authority Review Act
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— consider it a long shot, the intention behind the resolution
worries advocates for D.C. statehood.

“It would block D.C.’s elected local officials from changing local
taxes and fees without the explicit approval of Congress,” said
Melissa Wasser, senior policy counsel at ACLU-D.C. “Introducing this
bill and then immediately moving this bill is a tyrannical and
nonsensical power grab, plain and simple.”

 

20 Cents to Help Close the Gap

In Washington, D.C.’s least-populated ward
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Ward 3, where the median household income is over $140,000, there are
currently 17 full-service grocery stores. In D.C.’s most densely
populated ward, Ward 7, where the median household income is under
$70,000, there are just three full-service grocery stores.

The new 20-cent tax is designed to help close that gap. The funds will
go to a pilot program
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offering free Instacart memberships to low-income residents, a
nonprofit grocery store
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in Ward 8, and a program that allocated grants
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new food businesses in neighborhoods with food inaccessibility.
According to local organizers, these solutions to food access are a
reasonable cost for delivery services.

“These delivery companies should be paying a fee to address food
deserts and food access. DoorDash profits off food deserts,” said
Alex Dodds, campaign director and co-founder of Free DC, a fiscally
sponsored project [[link removed]] of Community
Change that advocates for the dignity of the residents of D.C. “It
only makes sense that they should give some of that money back to
address the problem they are profiting off of.”

_Truthout_ reached out to DoorDash for comment; at the time of
publication, the company has not responded. In a recent letter
addressed to the D.C. Council
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DoorDash defended its support for H.R. 9720 and insisted that it is in
favor of home rule.

“Fundamentally, DoorDash didn’t like something that D.C.
government did. And for some reason, the company thought that it was
appropriate to go around the back of D.C. government and try to
overturn the law altogether, rather than just be a good partner for
D.C. communities,” said Dodds.

 

Undermining Home Rule

H.R. 9720 would require both the House of Representatives and the
Senate to approve any tax increases or additional fees passed by the
D.C. Council. If passed, the legislation would strip D.C. of the
ability to change its own tax code.

Under the current process
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any changes to local D.C. tax code go into effect after a 30-day
congressional review window. At any time in this window, Congress can
block changes passed by the D.C. Council. H.R. 9720 would instead make
congressional approval mandatory for any changes, creating a
permission structure further limiting D.C. legislators from autonomous
governance.

“That law functionally ends home rule,” said U.S. Sen. for
Washington, D.C. Ankit Jain. “I don’t understand why a company
would support a bill that’s unlikely to pass and antagonize the
government that runs one of their major markets.”

In a case that H.R. 9720 does make it through the House and the Senate
and becomes law, local leaders warn of the impending consequences.

“We would have no recourse, which is why this is so devastating that
a District-based company would be undermining us in this way,” said
D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker. “We all want to advance a
responsible budget and act fiscally responsibly … reasonable people
can disagree on policy, but we should all agree here in D.C. that
decisions about D.C. should be in the hands of D.C. electeds who are
held accountable by D.C. residents and not Congress.”

While DoorDash is headquartered in San Francisco, the company operates
out of an additional office in Ward 6. 
[[link removed]]

This is not the first time that outside interests have acted to
influence democracy in D.C. In 2018, D.C. voters passed Initiative 77,
which would have increased the tipped minimum wage to $15. Following
pressure from the restaurant lobby and Trump-affiliated consultants
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the council voted down the initiative. In 2022, a similar piece of
legislation, Initiative 82, was approved by 74 percent
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of voters but again was struck down by the council
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after significant pressure from the restaurant lobby.

Local leaders point to the lack of statehood as a paramount reason why
D.C. is so vulnerable to corporate interests and external powers.

“This is all happening because D.C. is not a state, and D.C.
statehood is the only solution,” said Senator Jain. “Until D.C. is
a state, we will always be at risk of these kinds of big corporations
exploiting our lack of democracy to advance their interests over the
interests of the people of D.C.”

 

#DeleteDoorDash

While H.R. 9720 is awaiting further action in the House of
Representatives, residents of D.C. have organized around a response.
Free DC launched a campaign called “#DeleteDoorDash.”
[[link removed]] The organization is calling on
communities to delete their accounts on the app and submit proof to a
growing list of residents who disagree with DoorDash’s lobbying
efforts. Free DC also has demands for the food delivery company,
including withdrawing support for H.R. 9720.

“DoorDash is trying to get out of this 20-cent fee by paralyzing the
entire city’s ability to regulate revenue,” said Dodds.
“There’s just absolutely no excuse for any company that seeks the
business of D.C. residents to lobby against home rule.”

DoorDash drivers in D.C. have already reported
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a drop in orders following Free DC’s boycotting efforts.

One of Free DC’s other demands is for DoorDash to “issue a public
statement against ICE and other federal police who are hunting and
killing delivery drivers.” Since August 2025, when Donald Trump’s
federal occupation
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first began, federal immigration agents started
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alongside local police to target food delivery drivers. In addition to
other recent cases
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of violence by federal officers in Maine, Memphis, and Houston, last
month U.S. Park Police in D.C. killed food delivery driver Nolberto
Meza
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after a high-speed chase.

DoorDash’s opposition to the 20-cent tax follows $13.717 billion in
revenue
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for fiscal year 2025, a nearly 30 percent increase compared to 2024.

“I think it just exemplifies corporate greed in a way that is not
beneficial to the business. And it calls into question what they
really value,” said Councilmember Parker. “They are doubling down
on whatever will get them more profits, which is a shame.”

Local leaders continue to point to D.C. statehood as the sole solution
to attacks against democracy in the District. About 700,000 people
call D.C. home; that’s more people than entire states, including
Vermont and Wyoming [[link removed]].
As DoorDash continues to support H.R. 9720, Washingtonians set their
eyes on the inherent protections that becoming the 51st state would
grant.

“There’s no other capital in the democratic world where our
residents don’t have these same political rights equal to their
fellow citizens,” said Wasser. “It’s beyond time for D.C. to
become the 51st state. If we were a state, this would not happen."

 

_Nick Fulton is a queer social movement journalist who has covered
politics, protests, elections, and culture for over a dozen outlets,
including Salon, Prism, Common Dreams, and Queerty. Nick is also the
editor of The Fourth Estate, a publication covering the journalism
industry’s fight for survival. _

 

_Truthout is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing
independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social
justice issues. Since our founding in 2001, we have anchored our work
in principles of accuracy, transparency, and independence from the
influence of corporate and political forces._

* Washington DC
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* DC home rule
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* DC statehood
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* corporate power
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* DoorDash
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