


Washington, D.C., politicians are furious that President Joe Biden announced that he won't stop Congress from blocking the new revised criminal code loosening punishments for criminals.
On Thursday, Biden tweeted that while he supports D.C. statehood, he doesn't "support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings."
WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS BIDEN FROM DC CRIME BILL BACKLASH
I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule – but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections – such as lowering penalties for carjackings.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2023
If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed the president told lawmakers that “he would not veto the D.C. crime bill if it got the requisite number of votes” to pass Congress.
"This is about Republicans being able to nationalize this for politics and Democrats caving into this. I mean this an absolute travesty for statehood," D.C. Councilman Charles Allen, a supporter of the D.C. crime bill, said to a local radio station in Washington, D.C.
"This is just the beginning of what we see Republicans be able to do, and the Democrats just stood down," Allen said.
In January, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed the major overhaul of the city's criminal code, but the D.C. Council overrode her veto.
Now, Bowser is upset the bill that she vetoed is getting blocked in Congress with the help of Republicans and the president. She called it "infuriating" and worries Congress will continue to interfere with D.C. governance.
“Today has been a sad day for D.C. home rule and D.C. residents’ right to self-governance,” Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said in a statement. “But with the nationwide increase in crime, most senators do not want to be seen as supporting criminal justice reform.”
The bill, known as the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, decreases punishments for violent crimes such as carjackings, home invasion burglaries, robberies, and homicides and would scale back penalties for convicted felons illegally carrying firearms.
The proposal to lower punishments for criminals comes as carjackings in D.C. increased for a fifth straight year in 2022. The city saw a 20% jump in restaurant closures — 48 restaurants last year — due to economic factors, including loss of business because of unsafe streets for customers.
Union Station officials have struggled to strategize how to bring back customers to the transportation hub due to crime, shootings, and a heavy footprint of homelessness taking over the station.
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The Republican-led House voted last month to pass a resolution that would block the new revised criminal code approved by the D.C. Council.
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote next week on the fate of D.C.'s revised criminal code.