By Chris Kain
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The DC Council voted unanimously this afternoon to expel Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White Sr. for violations of ethics laws and council rules — a historic action that marks the first time the legislature has removed one of its members, authority granted in 2013 in the wake of earlier ethics scandals.

White has pleaded not guilty to a federal bribery charge, with his trial set to start in January 2026. At a hearing last week, his attorney denied the allegations and charges laid out in the council’s expulsion resolution, contested the council’s authority to act, and objected to the process as unfair.

But councilmembers today rejected the argument. “Legislatures everywhere, including Congress, have to be able to discipline members for egregious acts,” Chair Phil Mendelson said just prior to today’s voice vote, which came about 15 minutes into the legislative meeting. Expulsion required a five-sixths supermajority vote.

Mendelson said the citizenry will not tolerate bribery and other forms of corruption among elected officials. The other two legislators who spoke — at-large member Kenyan McDuffie, chair of the ad hoc committee that oversaw an investigation by outside counsel and voted in December to recommend expulsion, and Ward 2’s Brooke Pinto — also highlighted a need to protect and rebuild the public’s trust.

After reading a formal statement outlining the alleged misconduct, McDuffie directed the rest of his remarks to Ward 8 residents, some of whom sought unsuccessfully in recent days to get a federal court to halt the council from acting in part on grounds that it would disenfranchise Ward 8 residents.

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