House plans vote on resolution to block DC police reform law next week

Samantha-Jo Roth

April 13, 06:27 PM April 13, 06:27 PM

The House Rules Committee is planning to tee up floor action next week on another resolution that would overturn local police reforms in Washington, D.C., a second attempt to nullify another law passed by the District of Columbia and rein in the district’s autonomy.

The latest resolution intends to target laws passed by the D.C. Council last year to reform the Metropolitan Police Department and the district's justice system in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement in 2020. The reforms included prohibiting the use of neck restraints, increasing access to body camera footage, and revisiting officer discipline procedures.

HOUSE GOP PUSHES TO ROLL BACK LIBERAL CRIME LAWS IN DC AFTER DEMOCRATIC EMBARRASSMENT

The proposal, introduced by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), comes after the House passed another one of his resolutions that repealed the district’s recently revised criminal code, which would have reduced or eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for carjacking and some other violent crimes. The measure passed in the Senate, and President Joe Biden signed it into law.

Republicans continue to deploy a congressional maneuver called a resolution of disapproval to target policies they oppose and force Democrats to either embrace Biden’s positions or buck their party. The procedural tool has forced Biden to confront bills he opposes, which is somewhat unusual when his party controls the upper chamber since the majority leader often can prevent controversial legislation from being voted on, sparing the president from having to veto a bill or make a politically charged decision to sign it instead.

The vote exposed deep divisions within the party over how to confront concerns over crime and public safety. Before the Senate vote, 173 House Democrats voted with what they thought was the White House stance that Biden would veto the resolution in an effort to stand up for the district’s “home rule.”

“Now that Congress has effectively used its constitutional authority to strike down the D.C. Council’s dangerous Revised Criminal Code Act, we must now move to swiftly block this anti-police measure to ensure our nation’s capital city is safe for all Americans,” Clyde told the Washington Examiner in early March.

If the measure were to pass in the House and the Senate, the White House has confirmed Biden intends to veto the resolution, which would include a chokehold ban and a restriction on police union involvement in the disciplinary process. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing in late March that the president does “not support every provision” in the Washington law, but also “he will not support congressional Republicans’ efforts to overturn common sense police reform.”

The House Rules Committee also plans to consider legislation that would prohibit transgender and intersex girls and women from participating in sports.

House committee set to vote on repealing DC police reforms

Cami Mondeaux

March 29, 08:52 AM March 29, 08:52 AM

House lawmakers are set to vote on advancing a piece of legislation that would repeal several local police reform policies in Washington, D.C., marking the latest in the battle over legislative autonomy in the nation’s capital.

The House Oversight Committee is scheduled to vote on whether to advance a measure that would block police accountability legislation passed by the Council of the District of Columbia late last year. If passed, the resolution would head to the House for a full vote, setting the stage for lawmakers to repeal a local Washington law for the second time this year.

CRIME IS JUST THE BEGINNING AS GOP SEEKS TO REIN IN DC’S LIBERAL GOVERNMENT

The vote comes as the committee is set to hold a hearing with district officials on Wednesday morning to examine the city’s policies on crime, education, and homelessness. The hearing is set to feature a showdown between Congress members who want to rein in the city’s self-governance and local lawmakers who have repeatedly urged the federal government to keep its hands off.

“Every year we watch as members of Congress with no connection to the District introduce legislation or insert appropriation riders that detrimentally impact the functions of our government,” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson is expected to say, according to his prepared remarks. “These legislative efforts are often motivated by a desire to score political points on hot topics in national politics without any regard for why we enact the laws that we do or the effect on broader policies.”

Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is expected to push back on that argument, pointing to rising crime rates in the city as proof that local lawmakers “have failed in their responsibility to keep safe its citizens and visitors and provide economic and educational opportunities for them,” according to his prepared remarks.

The hearing comes as House Republicans have increasingly inserted themselves into the district’s affairs, seeking to overturn a number of local crime bills. Earlier this month, House Republicans pushed to overturn the district’s revised criminal code that was passed by the D.C. Council late last year that sought to clarify the district's crime laws and, in some cases, reduce the penalties for violent crimes such as carjackings and homicide.

That bill passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support earlier this month and was signed into law by President Joe Biden last week, marking the first time in 30 years that Congress has repealed a district law passed by the D.C. Council.

Now, Republicans are targeting local police reform policies passed in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement in 2020. Several of those reforms focused on prohibiting the use of neck restraints, increasing access to body camera footage, and revising officer discipline procedures.

The committee is expected to advance that legislation for full consideration in the House, where it’s likely to pass the Republican majority. It remains unclear whether the bill would pass the Democratic-led Senate, but some Democrats said they would consider it, according to the Washington Post.