The United States Senate has passed a Republican-led resolution to block a controversial Washington, DC, crime bill which is set to go to President Joe Biden for final approval.
“This joint resolution nullifies the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, enacted by the council of the District of Columbia (DC). The act makes a variety of changes to DC criminal laws, including providing statutory definitions for various elements of criminal offences, modifying sentencing guidelines and penalties, and expanding the right to a jury trial for certain misdemeanour crimes,” US Congress said in an official statement.
Clearly, the majority of Republicans putting a comma on the Democrat’s effort. Democrats control a narrow 51-to-49 majority in the Senate where most legislation requires at least 60 votes to pass to overcome a filibuster, according to CNN.
The resolution to block the DC crime bill, however, required only a simple majority vote in the Senate. The final vote was overwhelmingly bipartisan with a tally of 81-14.
The DC Council chairman attempted to withdraw the legislation from congressional review after it became clear the resolution of disapproval was on track to pass the Senate with widespread support. But that attempted withdrawal did not stop the Senate vote from moving forward.
The effort to block the crime bill divided Democrats and highlighted the difficult balance the party is attempting to strike as Republicans accuse them of failing to tackle the issue of crime, reported CNN.
Earlier, in February also, Republicans tried to stop Democrats. According to the US Congress’ statement, “This joint resolution nullifies the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, enacted by the council of the District of Columbia (DC). The act makes a variety of changes to DC criminal laws, including by providing statutory definitions for various elements of criminal offences, modifying sentencing guidelines and penalties, and expanding the right to a jury trial for certain misdemeanour crimes.”
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Thursday told the Democratic senators that he won’t veto GOP-led legislation to rescind a controversial Washington, DC, criminal law, a move that comes as Democrats are divided over the contentious issue and Republicans are aggressively accusing them of being soft on crime.
Biden’s announcement was planned in advance, according to a source familiar, and came after days of White House officials dodging questions about whether he’d veto the measure. Instead, they pointed to a Statement of Administration Policy that noted opposition to the measure on the grounds of respecting the autonomy of the district, CNN reported.