The Senate overwhelmingly voted to overturn a newly passed ordinance overhauling Washington's century-old criminal code, marking the first time in 30 years that Congress has repealed a local law passed by the D.C. Council.
The Senate voted 81-14 on Wednesday, with one senator voting "present," to strike down the legislation, which would have weakened penalties for crimes including carjackings and homicide. Fourteen Democrats ultimately voted with Republicans to back the measure.
The resolution now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk after the House passed it in February. The president announced last week he would not veto the GOP-led legislation despite his initial opposition.
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The resolution's passage marks the end of a weekslong push by the GOP to bring public safety back to the fore. The measure also revived tensions between Congress and district lawmakers, who denounced it as an effort to score political points ahead of a crucial election cycle.
Those tensions only escalated after Biden announced last week he would not stand in the way of the measure becoming law, angering local lawmakers as well as Democrats who voted against it in the lower chamber.
However, the bill had already earned support from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), which all but guaranteed 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). Following Biden’s announcement, multiple top Senate Democrats announced they would vote to overturn the revised criminal code.
District lawmakers sought to avoid such a high-profile rebuke in the Senate, prompting D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson to try to withdraw the bill from consideration on Monday. However, that attempt fell flat after Senate leaders said they would still hold a vote.
The Council of the District of Columbia overwhelmingly approved a bill last year that would implement a massive overhaul of the city’s criminal code, completing a project district lawmakers had been working on for 16 years. The rewritten legislation sought to clarify and lower penalties for some criminal offenses, with several lawmakers arguing severe punishments often do not deter crime.
Congressional Republicans criticized the overhaul, claiming the law would worsen violent crime by reducing penalties and “threatening the safety of both residents and visitors,” according to Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who introduced the House resolution that passed this month with the support of 31 Democrats.
The measure's passage in the House set up a showdown in the Senate as Republicans teed up a vote that forced Democrats to choose between preserving Washington’s autonomy or risking a politically sensitive vote ahead of the 2024 elections.
House Democrats were furious to learn of Biden’s decision to sign the legislation, accusing him of walking back the White House's stated opposition to overturning the criminal code. Biden didn’t tell lawmakers he planned to sign the GOP-led measure until weeks after it passed the House.
“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,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal said last week. “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.”
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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.
With Biden’s signature, the measure will effectively overturn the updated criminal code, leaving it up to local lawmakers to revise the legislation if they want congressional approval.