Senate Democratic leader Schumer says he’ll vote with GOP to repeal controversial D.C. crime bill
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday that he will vote with Republicans on overturning a controversial D.C. crime bill that would have lowered the maximum penalties for some crimes, making the including burglaries, robberies, and carjacking.
When asked Tuesday how he would vote and how his party and how the White House has “taken so seriously on this issue,” Schumer said: “I’m going to vote yes. It was a close question. But on balance, I vote yes. .”
FILE: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., speak to reporters after a closed-door policy meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday , March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The original DC legislation would have reduced the maximum penalties for certain crimes, including burglaries, robberies, and carjackings, along with removing some mandatory minimum sentences. He faced opposition from conservatives and some liberals; Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed it last January, but the city council overrode her veto.
Then, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives stepped in step by step to defeat the city council changes. President Biden said last week that he would sign the House measure rather than veto it.
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Under the Constitution, Congress can serve as the city council for the District of Columbia.
Schumer confirmed on Monday that the vote will be held this week. The Senate leadership supporter said the vote would be on the House’s resolution of disagreement, rather than bringing the DC Council to the Senate.
Despite Democratic control of the Senate, the criminal code is likely to be rejected. One Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has already said he will vote to overturn the law. Another man, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, is in the hospital, seeking treatment for clinical depression.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at a news conference on Nov. 9, 2022, in Washington. The city has fought to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Hopes for presidential intervention were dashed last week when Biden said he would not use visas if the measure reached his desk. Biden publicly supports DC statehood and generally opposes Congress overturning the city’s elected officials laws.
In vetoing the revised criminal code, Bowser said she opposed provisions such as reducing the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, robbery and other crimes.
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“Anytime there’s a policy that reduces penalties, I think it sends the wrong message,” she said in January.
Bowser has said she would prefer that Congress stay out of the District’s affairs, but her veto has often been cited by congressional critics as proof that the overhaul of the a criminal code that deviates from normal Democratic thinking.
FILE: DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson speaks during the DC Mayoral and Council swearing-in ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Monday, January 02, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
D.C. Council Chairman Mendelson said Monday that the criminal code has been hijacked by Republicans in Congress, to create a hot button issue that will continue through the 2024 presidential elections.
Mendelson said the controversy was designed to put Biden and congressional Democrats in a political bind; by defending DC’s right to self-governance, they open themselves up to accusations of being soft on crime at a time when crime is on the rise both in the nation’s capital and across the United States , he said.
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“This is about using the District for national political purposes,” he said. “Crime lends itself well to demagogic rhetoric.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
