Top Senate Democrat lines up behind Biden on DC crime law

Juliegrace Brufke

March 03, 03:20 PM March 03, 03:20 PM

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said she would vote to repeal the Washington crime bill, one day after President Joe Biden told Senate Democrats at a caucus lunch that he would not veto the legislation should it arrive on his desk.

Murray's decision, which follows centrist Democrat Joe Manchin (WV) announcing that he'd oppose Washington's crime code overhaul earlier this week, signals other Democrats may soon line up behind the president, who initially opposed the resolution. With two Democratic senators absent from the upper chamber, Manchin's vote suggested the GOP-led measure had the support to pass.

"I absolutely respect that decision," Murray, the president pro tempore of the Senate, told CNN of Biden's announcement. "I'll be voting the same way the president is."

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Centrist Democrats have largely voiced support for the resolution as Republicans have looked to hit the party over allegations it is soft on crime. The decision, however, has sparked backlash from a sizable number of members in both chambers.

“I’m disappointed. First of all, I hope the Senate would not pass it. But I think it’s pretty clear they will,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) told Politico. “And to me, the Congress should not substitute its judgment for the elected representatives of the people of the District of Columbia.”

Washington Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said it was a “sad day” for the district and a step in the wrong direction for the city’s ability to self-govern.

“We had hoped that with more Senate support, we would have been able to ensure that neither disapproval resolution pending before the Senate would reach the president’s desk, but with the nationwide increase in crime, most senators do not want to be seen as supporting criminal justice reform," she told the Hill.

Washington’s new crime laws eliminated a large portion of mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes and reinstated the use of jury trials for misdemeanors. Its repeal passed the House last month with the support of 31 Democrats.