GOP efforts to repeal the DC crime law will likely succeed, because Joe Manchin will oppose it
The DC Correlations Proposal and a Call to Reply to ‘What is wrong with the DC Criminal Code?’
I do not support it. Manchin addressed concerns that the DC law lowers sentencing requirements for some violent criminals, saying that he wanted to put people away. I would vote to remove it if I had been briefed on it.
Democrats hold a 51-49 lead in the Senate and the legislation is good reason to vote for it. The bill passed in the Republican-controlled House with the support of 31 Democrats.
The people who advocated for an update to the DC criminal code were upset that Democrats let Republicans use the message that they were soft on crime, even if the Democrats didn’t fight for their rights to govern itself. The bill’s backers fear that the episode undermined the fight for DC statehood.
“It’s a raw nerve with a lot of the American people. They are not fond of the cities and say they are not safe. It is difficult for Democrats to oppose something that would make some of our larger population centers more safe. I believe some Democrats in the Senate will vote for it. It was up to Biden to decide what to do.
The DC Council wrote a letter last week objecting to congressional involvement in the measure, explaining that the District of Columbia has the right to self-govern under the Home Rule Act.
Reply to Fetterman’s Letter to the Senate Attempt to Remove the DC Criminal Reform Legislation from House View of a Republican Senator
Complicating Democrats’ efforts to prevent the Republicans from passing their bill is the absence of Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat of Pennsylvania, who is hospitalized for an unknown duration.
DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on Monday wrote a letter to the Senate attempting to withdraw the district’s criminal reform legislation from congressional review after it became clear the Senate intended to nix the legislation.
My letter was withdrawn from consideration due to the fact Congress is going to override that legislation.
Senate leadership aides on both sides are trying to understand the implications of his attempted withdrawal. A senior Republican aide said the Senate was going to vote on the local legislation this week.
The statute doesn’t allow for a withdrawal of a transmission, but at this point the Senate Republican privilege motion will act on the House disapproval resolution, not the DC Council’s transmission to the Senate. We still expect the vote to occur.”
The Senate is set to vote on the crime bill in a few days. President Joe Biden had promised to not veto the bill’s overturn and the legislation was expected to pass quickly.
If the clock stops and would have to be retransmitted to both houses, this will enable the council to work on the measure in light of congressional comments and to retransmit.
“The Home Rule Act is very clear that I transmit and there is not a prohibition on my pulling it back,” Mendelson said. “This law will not go into effect because I have pulled it back.”
The DC City Council received guidance from the Senate parliamentarian, and believes at this point the Senate vote would simply be on the House-passed disapproval resolution, which would be a messaging vote that would have no bearing on whether the DC crime law is actually implemented since it’s already been withdrawn.
Biden’s announcement also put moderate Democrats who voted against the Republican proposal more open to political attacks from the GOP for being soft on crime. Moderate Democrats were angry with Biden for waiting until after they had voted against the effort to signal his intentions.
