When the House voted to scrap D.C.’s criminal justice reform last month, 173 of 204 Democrats, representing 85 percent, opposed the Republican push. When the measure took place in the Senate on Wednesday night. All but 14 of the 51 Democrats in the Senate joined Republicans to overthrow the D.C. House.
What has changed in the past four weeks is a case study of terrible politics. bad communication and many Democratic politicians who dare not show submissiveness to crime. especially What changed during that time was President Joe Biden.
Biden announced last week that he would sign DC’s crime legislation, which would repeal penalties for certain crimes and thwart DC bills for the first time in more than 30 years, for all Democratic platitudes. Regarding self-governing DC—Democrat More accurately plagiarism – Congress maintains the ability to overrule local politicians in the District of Columbia.
When the House voted on Feb. 9, Democratic lawmakers assumed Biden would veto the resolution. Mainly because that’s what management had suggested three days earlier.
“Taxation without representation and a denial of self-regulation is an affront to the democratic values on which our country was founded… As we work to make Washington, D.C. the 51st state of our union, Congress should respect the District of Columbia’s autonomy in its own local governments,” the administration’s policy statement Feb. 6 read.
But after a month of intense GOP attacks on a city plagued by worsening crime, Biden thought better about implicitly approving changes that would reduce penalties for crimes like carjacking. Theft and Home Invasion The resolution is now slated to be the first legislation from the new Congress signed by the president. and 173 Democrats, the House is being burned.
“There could be much better communication. And that’s just a show of professional etiquette… to let us know what he intends on that,” Representative Mary Peltola (D-AK), who voted against the bill, told The Daily Beast. “So I think it shows we’re not always formal.”
Peltola is one of 15 weak Democrats whose Republican National Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm, is running ads against it, touting the vote as a sign of weakness for the Democrats. crime The ad, first reported by Axios, dubbed the 173 Democrats who voted for the bill “a scam.” Calling the proposal “crazy, even President Biden doesn’t support anarchy.”
Peltola’s sentiments were familiar among Democrats on Thursday. Many people—at least in public—stand with their vote. Ultimately, it’s difficult to go back to the position you previously voted for. or publicly accepting White House advice on how members actually vote.
But a number of Democratic members of the House of Representatives said that It would be nice if they were told in advance that they were voting. That would make them appear softer to crime than Biden.
“I think communication could be better from the streets of Pennsylvania (Avenue). I used to say I was disappointed. That is true,” Pete Aguilar, the Democratic Party (D-CA), told reporters.
Others are much less negotiated about flip-flops.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) said he had “whiplash.”
“None of us really want to defend these DC policy moves,” Huffman said, “but we should all feel comfortable defending the House Rules.”
He went on to say that what made Biden’s decision so damaging to Democrats was the undermining of the message. Before Biden reversed, it was easy for Democrats to defend their vote. their Because they’re defending the “principles” of allowing cities to make their own laws. When Biden decides that’s not the case, Democrats may have a harder time ignoring real policy.
“DC has the right to pass stupid laws. Just like any other city in America, without Congress it comes in and becomes a city council,” Huffman said.
He concluded that Biden did not make the Democrats’ jobs “easier.”
Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chairman of the Congressional Congress Party, was also harsh about her assessment.
“I am deeply disappointed to see the President announce that he will allow Congress to overturn DC legislation for the first time in decades,” Japal said in a statement. “This is simple: the District of Columbia must be allowed to govern itself. Democrats’ commitment to Home rule should apply regardless of the substance of local law.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) also said he was “disappointed” with the management face. “It’s disappointing. Especially when it comes to convictions and criminal justice reform issues, DC seems to be trying to be a leader on that issue,” Bowman told The Daily Beast.
Bowman continued to lament what he saw as the administration being wary of discouraging unions, police and players in The congressman came to Hill after protests over the George Floyd murder, but he said the issue hadn’t been meaningfully resolved since then.
Biden’s move is a step in the opposite direction, he said.
“It conveys a lack of understanding from the president. lack of courage or a lack of vision when it comes to the overall judicial reforms needed in our country,” he said.
As Bowman noted, it has been several years since major criminal justice reform laws have been passed at the federal level. Most leave the problem to the state and local governments. The prospects for reform won’t get any better after the 2022 cycle, when the dreaded label of “Soft against crime” has entered the parliamentary race just like it did in the 1990s.
But this latest mistake has given new life to the attack. Democratic majority members of the House of Representatives not only voted to reduce penalties for many crimes, but also voted to reduce penalties. But they also positioned themselves on Biden’s left in crime. even if it’s not
White House spokesman Andrew Bates told The Daily Beast on Wednesday night that Republicans in Congress need to commit to “here and now” to join Biden—”not deter him”—to fight the rising crime rate that the president has inherited.
“The American people will no longer stand up to GOP sabotage in law enforcement,” Bates said. In protecting the police, it targeted the COPS program President Biden created as a senator. including their budget They should strongly condemn their colleagues who have called for the FBI and ATF to be held accountable, and they need to join the program on gun criminals by finally ending opposition to the assault weapons ban. Instead of trading AR-15 lapel pins and choosing a safer street gun lobby.”
“This is not a game,” Bates continued. “It’s life and death. Their multi-year campaign to reduce law enforcement funding in the name of ideology is no more at odds with the country.”
But Biden’s reversal has brought more attention to the crime and this specific resolution. and exacerbated the retaliation for the middle class who felt vulnerable to the GOP’s attacks on social issues.
The NRCC ad, the first round of 2024, is a sign of its prominence and potential. And it’s a clue that Republicans might try to protect their House majority. and how to protect the White House and the Senate
Members who were targeted by the media blitz didn’t seem eager to talk about it Tuesday. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) was reluctant to talk about ads or D.C. crime bills outright on Capitol Tuesday.
When asked about his reaction to Biden’s policy change, Horsford replied, “Why don’t you ask about the right to vote?”
The Daily Beast has written many stories about voting rights. And as we clarify—including the fact that the Senate is voting on Wednesday’s D.C. crime resolution—Horsford simply insists that He also argued that The Daily Beast should have asked the NRCC why bringing the Voting Rights Act into the Senate didn’t work either.
Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR), another ad target, said her county “doesn’t really care about DC, they care about home governance. And they don’t want the government to overturn local decisions.”
When asked about the change in government policy on the matter, Hoyle said she was “comfortable” with her vote. “I vote for my district and my values, and that’s it,” she said.
The final vote on solving D.C.’s crime comes during an already tense week for Democrats. After it was reported that the administration was considering reversing the Trump-era immigration detention policy. Democrats in Congress, namely in the Spanish Congress and Spain, have expressed dissatisfaction with the idea.
Some see Biden’s latest policy move as a shift towards the center and a far cry from the progressive achievements of the past two years.
But addressing this crime in DC, including the hidden charges, It is an unforced error after an unforced error.
First, the reform of the penalties for crimes like carjacking and robberies occurred at a time when both crimes were taking place in D.C. Although many other crimes have decreased in the county. Most notably, the bill would remove mandatory minimum sentences for crimes committed in the county.
But the politics of this bill are so bad that DC’s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser self objectionJust for the D.C. Council to unanimously override her veto, Bowser noted that the bill would drastically reduce penalties for crimes like getting caught with a gun. After having been sentenced to violent crimes (from 15 years to 4 years) and will create loopholes in criminal prosecution, such as the possession of firearms by unauthorized persons
The D.C. Council doesn’t care and is pushing for changes that will go into effect in 2025, but that’s when Congress gets involved.
Republican politics, unlike Democrats, the GOP never lags behind DC independence and has a simple political point. to score by resisting these changes. Biden’s decision to support the GOP efforts further lends credence to the resolution. And it makes it harder for Democrats to oppose it.
Which is likely why Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has never disclosed how he will vote. So it ended up urging Democratic senators to vote for the resolution.
On Tuesday, the day before the vote Schumer said it was “Questions close to me” but in the end He sided with the president and his most vulnerable senators, who had already announced they would vote for GOP legislation.
“I vote yes,” Schumer said.
and last Wednesday He and 32 other Democrats voted with Republicans. This made the 173 Democrats in the House of Representatives who voted against appear more indifferent.
(Tag to translate)Crime
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