House Democrats are leveling criticism at President Joe Biden for his decision not to block Republican-led legislation overturning the criminal code in Washington, D.C., accusing the president of flip-flopping on previous pledges to defend the district’s self-governance.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a senior whip for House Democrats, hit the president on Friday for declining to veto the measure making its way through the Senate that would strike down a newly passed law overhauling the criminal code in Washington, D.C. The legislation is likely to pass the upper chamber, setting the stage for Congress to override local legislation passed by the D.C. Council for the first time in 30 years.
BIDEN WON’T VETO GOP-LED RESOLUTION OVERRIDING DC CRIME LAW, DEALING BLOW TO DEMOCRATS
“I’m deeply disappointed to see the president announce he will allow Congress to overturn a D.C. law for the first time in decades,” Jayapal 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 the local legislation.”
The Home Rule Act allows Washington, D.C., to operate as an independent city government despite not having statehood. The only caveat is that all laws are subject to congressional approval before being enacted — occasionally setting up showdowns between Congress and local lawmakers.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, also decried Biden’s decision, calling it a loss for local government.
“It’s disappointing for me and anybody who believes in Home Rule, honestly,” Aguilar said at a Punchbowl News event on Thursday. “I’m a former mayor of a city of 70,000, and I wouldn’t want the federal government coming in and telling me what city ordinances to pass.”
Other House Democrats accused Biden of walking back his previous stance on the issue, pointing to comments the White House made last month that the president opposed the resolution seeking to overturn the criminal code. Biden didn’t tell lawmakers he planned to sign the GOP-led measure until weeks after it passed the House.
“This ain’t it. DC has a right to govern itself, like any other state or municipality. If the President supports DC statehood, he should govern like it,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet. “Plenty of places pass laws the President may disagree with. He should respect the people’s gov of DC just as he does elsewhere.”
Biden noted he still supports D.C. statehood but confirmed he would sign the bill if it passed the Senate because he disagrees with several provisions in the rewritten code.
"I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule — but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward," Biden tweeted on Thursday. "If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it."
Biden announced on Thursday that he would not veto the measure making its way through the Senate that would strike down D.C.'s new criminal code, which reduces the penalties for some crimes. Biden told Democrats he would not block the measure if it passed the Senate, which it is poised to do after earning the support of at least two Democrats.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said earlier this week he would vote to overturn the criminal code, all but guaranteeing its passage in the Senate, where Democrats have temporarily lost their outright majority with the absences of Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Both are currently out of office due to health problems.
The measure revived tensions between congressional Republicans and local lawmakers in the district, who denounced the legislation as an effort to use Washington, D.C., as a way to score political points ahead of a crucial election cycle.
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“We have a very divisive national political discourse right now … where the Republicans and the Democrats on the national stage try to score points against one another,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb told the Washington Examiner earlier this week. “This is not about public safety in the District of Columbia. This is about using the District of Columbia as a pawn in a national political game.”
The Senate is poised to vote on the legislation as soon as next week, and it would then be sent to the president's desk.