In addition to being known as the nation’s capital, for many locals, Washington D.C. is “Chocolate City” and the home of Go-Go music. So naturally, Democratic non-voting Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s efforts to name a city post office after local musician Chuck Brown, known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” seemed like a natural effort to honor D.C.’s rich culture.
However, on Tuesday, Republican members of the House Oversight Committee took Norton’s bill off the agenda, preventing it from moving forward.
“Committee members raised concerns about advancing a postal naming bill for an individual convicted of murder,” a spokesman for the Oversight Committee Republicans said in a statement, per the Washington Post.
Though the GOP members claim that the bill was removed to “allow for further review,” Norton says she’s “deeply disappointed.”
“The Committee unceremoniously removed my bill to rename a post office for Chuck Brown from today’s agenda because he served time in prison. Chuck Brown was a Washingtonian for most of his life. He created Go-Go, the official music of D.C., and shaped the District’s cultural identity,” she continued.
The prison time in question references the time Brown spent in and out of correctional facilities at a young age, including for a mid-1950s aggravated assault charged upgraded to murder once the victim died; Brown claimed self-defense. However, the musician emphasized how pivotal his time at Lorton, Virginia’s former prison complex, was to his artistry.
“Out of all the other institutions that I’ve been through, they only taught me one thing, how not to go back to those same institutions again. But when I went to Lorton, that’s when I found myself,” Brown said in a 2010 interview with the National Endowment for the Arts. “That’s where a lot of inmates found themselves. You were presented with all kinds of opportunities, you know? You could learn a trade. Guys have come out of there and become lawyers. I got serious about music while I was down there.”
Brown has already receiving numerous honors by the city, with a park and a street near the historic Howard Theater named after him. In June 2025, Congresswoman Norton first introduced the bill to name the post office at 340112th Street NE after Brown. Known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” Brown was a DC resident for most of his life. A self-taught musician, Brown helped pioneer the unique sounds of Go-Go music and earned a Grammy nomination in 2010.
“Chuck Brown gave D.C. a unique hometown sound that was distinctly our own and brought enjoyment to all who heard him here and throughout the nation,” Norton said in a statement at the time. “Go-go is the beat of D.C., giving D.C. its own musical identity and reminding the nation that D.C. has always been the hometown of talented artists. We’ll never forget the free concert in 2010 Chuck Brown played in front of the Capitol for D.C. statehood and voting rights. He loved the District, and naming post office after him is a way D.C. can honor him in return.”
“It’s completely appropriate to honor him,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson of the decision. “And I find it ironic that in this administration there are folks who are insisting that a criminal record from long, long, long ago for which Chuck Brown did his time is somehow unacceptable.”
That same day, the House Oversight Committee also moved forward with a bill from Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman that would eliminate a D.C. law that requires courts, whose judges are nominated by the president, to follow the guidance of executive agencies when interpreting city laws. D.C. passed this law after the Supreme Court overturned a past decision that told courts to give similar respect to federal agencies. However, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D), and Mendelson previously urged them to reject the legislation, calling it a “clear example of federal overreach into local governance.”
“The District has less autonomy over its judiciary than any state, and the federal intervention reflected in this bill disrespects the rights of DC voters and erodes our democracy.”
This is just the latest in the Trump administration’s agenda to make DC “safe and beautiful.”
