Sullum thinks not:
“I think a resolution of disapproval is unlikely,” says Bill Piper, director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. “Overturning a ballot measure passed by 70 percent of the voters doesn’t really look good for the incoming Republican Congress. If the council transmits [the initiative] in January, I think that pretty much reduces or eliminates the chance that Congress will overturn it outright. It just doesn’t fit with what they’re talking about doing, which is rebranding themselves as not being obstructionists.”
Yay! Why defunding the initiative is unlikely to work:
Unless Congress is still working on appropriations for the current fiscal year come January, [anti-marijuana Congressman Andy] Harris would have to wait until spending is authorized for fiscal year 2016. “They could do an appropriations rider that might take effect in September, October, November, December,” Piper says, “but Initiative 71 will already be in effect by then.”
Since the District already will have eliminated penalties for marijuana cultivation, possession, and sharing within the limits set by the initiative, telling it not to spend money on doing so will be ineffectual.
W. James Antle II wants Republicans to stand aside:
Congress would have to move quickly on a resolution of disapproval, making it one of the new majority’s earliest priorities. They would probably have nothing to show for it in the end, as President Obama has suggested his signature won’t be forthcoming. Even the frequently PR-challenged Republicans can likely sense this would be bad symbolically.
Where opponents could do the most damage is attaching riders defunding legalization’s implementation to must-sign appropriations bills. While it’s probably too late to stop legalization’s initial rollout, putting together the necessary tax and regulatory regime will take a couple of years. That’s plenty of time to gum up the works.
But this would be a step backward.
The Dish 