D.C. Code § 24-201.17
The Superintendent of the Washington Asylum and Jail appointed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia is hereby directed, authorized, and required to execute the judgments of the law prior to March 4, 1923, pronounced and thereafter to be pronounced in the District of Columbia by the courts thereof in all capital cases, and the power prior to March 4, 1923, given to and now vested in such Mayor to appoint such Superintendent and all appointments to the position of such Superintendent made by such Mayor are hereby ratified and confirmed; and any failure on the part of Congress, either prior to or after March 4, 1923, to make a specific appropriation for the salary or compensation of such Superintendent shall not be construed either as an abolition of such position of Superintendent of the Washington Asylum and Jail or as a repeal of the power and authority of such Mayor to appoint such Superintendent.
D.C. Code § 24-201.17