Senate overwhelmingly approves rebuke of D.C. crime bill
Senate overwhelmingly passes rebuke to D.C. crime bill that reduced penalties for violent crime after sparking Democratic anger when White House sided with Republicans
- The Senate overwhelmingly passed a GOP-led resolution Wednesday night to repeal a crime bill in Washington, D.C.
- Critics of the bill called it soft on crime amid rising crime rates in the nation’s capital
- Most of the Senate Democratic caucus aligned with the Republicans, with a final vote of 81 to 14
The Senate overwhelmingly passed a GOP-led resolution Wednesday night to repeal a crime bill in Washington, D.C. that critics labeled as soft on crime amid rising crime rates in the nation’s capital.
Most of the Senate Democratic caucus aligned with the Republicans as the final count was 81 to 14.
The vote came after the D.C. City Council president attempted Monday to withdraw the legislation so it wouldn’t be hit by a Senate rebuke.
A number of Senate Democrats pointed to this to excuse their votes.
“Both the President of the City Council — who has withdrawn the legislation — and the mayor have suggested that these changes to DC’s criminal code are not ready for prime time,” said a point statement from Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
“We will vote in favor of the resolution of censure and urge the mayor and city council to work together to create a safer city for everyone, including the many Virginians who commute to DC every day for work,” he said. they added.
The Senate overwhelmingly passed a GOP-led resolution Wednesday night to repeal a crime bill in Washington, D.C. that critics labeled as soft on crime amid rising crime rates in the nation’s capital
President Joe Biden said he would sign the resolution once it is passed. That opened him to criticism from some Democrats, as it showed he wasn’t fully committed to DC with autonomy, despite saying he supported a state.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser opposed the D.C. crime law — which is one of the reasons the White House justified why President Joe Biden would sign the GOP-approved resolution that would repeal the law
The Democrats who voted yes followed President Joe Biden’s lead.
Biden had indicated that he would support the Republican bill to block the measure — even as his administration grew irate for violating its own admonitions about protecting home rule in the city.
The process had already begun when Council President Phil Mendelson wrote a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris to try to secure the bill.
“Not only does the statute not allow withdrawal of a broadcast, but at this time the Republican Senate’s privileged motion will act on the House’s censure resolution, rather than the D.C. Council’s broadcast to the Senate,” he said. an aide to the Senate leadership, who told DailyMail.com, “We still expect the vote to take place.”
The vote ended around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, capping an episode that revealed a rift in the Democratic Party over Washington, D.C.’s autonomy.
Without a state, DC’s Home Rule Act allows Congress to review the city’s laws.
Mendelson said the Council, which supported the combined amendments to the penal code over the objections of Mayor Muriel Bowser, would amend the law and later submit it to Congress.
Mendelson suggested that Biden and the Democrats in Congress sided with the Republicans to make it clear that they were not soft on crime before the 2024 general election.
D.C. Council President Phil Mendelson tried to get the bill out of the Senate before Wednesday night’s vote. He suggested that President Joe Biden and the Democrats who voted to sanction it did so so they could emphasize in 2024 ads that they are tough on crime
Mendelson wrote to Vice President Harris in her role as Senate President. While it was not clear she had the ability to stop a vote, which an aide to the leadership said was a privileged motion to follow up on a vote that had already taken place in the House
“This is about next year’s campaign,” he said. “That’s what it’s about, it’s about making videos that such and such a senator voted to go soft on crime in the District of Columbia.”
A number of House Democrats who voted against repeal of the crime bill also expressed outrage at Biden.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had said that “when the bill gets to the president’s desk, he will sign it.”
At the same time, she said Biden continued to support DC’s state.
“He believes and has believed for a while that DC should be a fifty-one state,” she said. The move “doesn’t change the fact that he’s encouraging Congress to pass a bill making DC a state, and he’ll sign it into law.”
But she justified Biden’s move by saying the president cares about the safety of Americans.
“One thing the president believes in is making sure the streets of America and communities across the country are safe,” said Jean-Pierre. ‘That includes direct current’