Issues
Commonsense Thinking, Real-Life Experience
Kelly Mikel Williams has lived through DC’s past, he’s contributing to its present, and he has concerns and hopes for DC’s future. That’s why Kelly Mikel is stepping up to advocate for us in the U.S. House of Representatives. As the District of Columbia’s sole representative in Congress, Kelly Mikel’s top priority will be identifying opportunities to keep more federal dollars in DC to address the local challenges he knows firsthand.
HEALTHCARE
The ‘Worst Bill in American History’ puts millions of Americans in jeopardy of losing their healthcare.
This legislation imposes harsh Medicaid/Medicare changes. It adds rigid work requirements combined with burdensome paperwork that do nothing to encourage employment and keeps people in need from receiving vital medical attention. It will cut over $800 million from D.C. Medicaid, kicking thousands of residents off the only healthcare insurance they have. The burden this causes for our residents is disastrous and deadly. Over 95,000 District residents could lose their healthcare as a result of this bill.
This hits home for me. For 13 years, I cared for my mother as she fought Alzheimer’s Disease. The need for Caregiver support is vital to the wellbeing of our loved ones. Aging in place ensures the continuity of the family structure and stability and adds value to the health of a sick relative. I was forced to leave the workforce for nearly a decade to care for my mother and the need for mental and emotional support and healthcare for the providers is critical to their ability to give the love and care that their family member needs as they may transition. It’s why I support full funding for caregiver support and suicide prevention services to help reduce the alarming rate of suicide among our elderly. I will continue to advocate for continued research for diseases like Alzheimer’s and am appalled by the cuts in funding for medical research. Taking away healthcare coverage and defunding the research for a cure is a death sentence. We should “cancel” cancer, not cancer research!
Let me be clear: I will vote to repeal every bit of this bill that steals the healthcare of our most vulnerable Americans who have build, served and sweated to make America what it was before 2025. Healthcare is a right, not a political pawn. I will stand with families, clinics, doctors, and hospitals, demanding Congress protect Americans’ right to healthcare!
Affordable Housing
Housing is a right. Full stop.
I’ve been a renter. I’ve owned a couple of homes in D.C. But I’ve also been homeless with my son when he was only 3 years old. I’ve defended tenants facing displacement during renovations of their housing units. I’ve watched federal programs bypass the very families they’re meant to serve. I’ve seen residents get taxed out of their community. And I’ve seen lifelong Washingtonians unable to return to their community after redevelopment.
Affordability starts at the top, with the willingness to make it affordable. Housing is a national security issue. Without affordable housing, Americans can never embrace the preamble of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Without affordability, Washingtonians will perish in the richest state in the world. Without affordability, the rich will get richer and the poor, poorer. The wealthy will gain more wealth, and the marginalized will become maligned.
The current White House policy treats unhoused residents as criminals and a federal problem rather than a national security issue and human rights crisis.
That approach is racist! Affordable housing is a necessity, not an optional expense. It’s the cornerstone of our security for D.C’s most vulnerable. I will demand that federal housing programs serve all residents: families, seniors, and individuals of every income. I don’t just know housing policy, I’ve actually lived the reality that too many of our residents share: homelessness.
DC Statehood - Home rule
No constitutional right resonates more deeply than representation. The District’s population exceeds that of Wyoming and Vermont, yet we have no voting Senators and a Delegate who can’t cast a final vote on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Over 700,000 taxpayers in our Nation’s Capital have only a partial voice in the U.S. House of Representatives and no voice at all in the U.S. Senate, the greatest deliberative body on earth.
We’re taxed federally, and silenced representatively!
This isn’t just unfair, it’s un-American!
Now more than ever, the District’s Home Rule is in jeopardy. Federal overreach, as seen in the recent deployment of more than 2,000 armed National Guard troops, with a request for 6,000 more, and the federalization of police, only underscores D.C.’s need for self-governance. Soldiers from other states have been deployed to patrol the streets of D.C. We did not request them, nor are they here to protect our residents. This attempt to intimidate District residents and other states brings chaos, not safety, to the nation’s capital. The only way we stop it is together.
Support for D.C. Statehood has surged. Over 70% of District residents back full independence along with 19 state legislatures, and 54 percent of the American public. The Washington, D.C. Admission Act (H.R. 51) has nearly 200 sponsors in the House and dozens in the Senate, and that’s not enough.
As your next Congressional Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, I will champion a permanent voting right for the District of Columbia, and I will build support for full autonomy, ending this injustice once and for all.
Jobs and Economic Development
Prices are going up, and job opportunities are going down. Our country is on the wrong track.
Donald Trump has single-handedly spiked D.C’s unemployment rate. The real cost? Our unemployment rate is now at 5.8%, the highest in the nation, due to layoffs, furloughs, and systemic federal firings. This trend will only continue, meaning schools, housing, mental health, and other tax-funded needs our community relies on are at risk.
The recent jobs report shows that leadership in Congress is needed to fuel our economy and make the District a bastion for opportunity through creative pilots that can drive job seekers into innovative industries often overlooked. As someone who knows this economic uncertainty firsthand, I will push to hold the Trump administration accountable when federal employees are fired illegally and leverage my Congressional office into a force multiplier for efforts to increase employment opportunities in the District of Columbia.
Many corridors across the District were centers of economic boom and opportunity for small businesses. But now we’re losing our popular businesses as a result of tariffs and tax cuts for billionaires are causing District businesses to shut down. The invasion of ICE is causing even more businesses to be concerned for their staff and on the verge of closing.
I’ve helped to bring new businesses to my community and helped to sustain others. I’ve connected small farmers to financing. I’ve built a business and establishing a community credit union. Together with my business partners, we opened a full-service sit down restaurant. I will support our small businesses and fight to bring federal workers back into the workforce.
Work brings not only income, but dignity. This economic downturn will strike at the very spirit of our residents. I will always fight for the dignity of Washington, D.Cs 700,000.
Homelessness
Across the District of Columbia, housing is too expensive, resulting in homelessness. I have experienced homelessness. I was a single father sleeping in my car and wondering how my son and I would survive. It was soul-crushing, and there were times when I wanted to give up, and almost did. But I had to fight to find the light that would pull me through. Even when it felt like I couldn’t win, I kept fighting.
Too often, when we see our legislators, we see people of means. Some inherited from their family, others succeeded in business. While others manipulated the system. I would never begrudge their legal good fortune. But mine is and has always been a voice for the less fortunate, for those striving to get to the next rung on the ladder of success and those barely clinging on.
In Congress, I will be one of the few legislators who can speak your language and about homelessness from a place of experience. I have walked the path from desperately seeking employment to being a job creator myself, and I will bring the lessons I learned to Capitol Hill. My journey fuels my commitment to ensuring every Washingtonian has stable, secure housing. I’ll push for affordable housing, robust mental health resources, and a comprehensive support system that meets people where they are. Through my service on the Board of Directors for Covenant House Greater Washington, I’ve seen how investing in our youth saves lives. Our nation’s capital must become a model and not a cautionary tale for solving homelessness. Because it’s about us!
Crime
After years of progress, the Department of Justice reported in January of 2025 that crime in Washington, D.C. was at a 30-year low. This landmark achievement was the result of leaders in the community working with law enforcement to make our streets safer.
As the son of a police officer, the brother of an FBI agent, and a former police officer, I understand Washingtonians’ experiences with law enforcement aren’t monolithic. What we all have in common is a desire for safety, for ourselves and our loved ones. That will require continued hard work and collaboration. But it starts with addressing one of the main causes for crime, and that’s poverty and lack of opportunity. Individuals who have affordable housing, access to quality education, healthcare, and livable wage employment opportunities don’t waste their time committing crimes. They are raising a family, supporting their community, and contributing to society.
Our prior gains weren’t imagined. They were real. They were strategic. But we cannot stop now. As ANC Commissioner, I’ve seen how each neighborhood’s challenges differ. As Delegate, I will work with our community leaders to prioritize their needs and seek out federal funding to help meet them. I will petition the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for regular meetings to voice the concerns of Washingtonians and push the Department of Justice to remember that protection of and service to the people should be their top priority. And I will put forth legislation to give the District’s Attorney General the power to prosecute all crimes in D.C., giving them full authority as the Top Cop for the District of Columbia.
A Path Forward
“In the halls of Congress, I will be the representative who advocates for DC’s interests alongside our local leaders. I will fight harmful meddling from out-of-state politicians who don’t live in our neighborhoods and don’t care about our communities.”
– Kelly Mikel Williams
