House Republicans block funding for D.C. marijuana decriminalization

House Republicans on Wednesday blocked funding for a new D.C. law that would have eliminated criminal penalties for possessing marijuana, leaving the fate of the measure up to budget negotiations between the House and Senate.

The move is a defeat to D.C. lawmakers who had argued that ending jail time was necessary to combat deep racial disparity in drug sentencing in the nation’s capital.

The effort to halt the measure was led by Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s only Republican in Congress.