House committee set to vote on repealing DC police reforms
Cami Mondeaux
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House lawmakers are set to vote on advancing a piece of legislation that would repeal several local police reform policies in Washington, D.C., marking the latest in the battle over legislative autonomy in the nation’s capital.
The House Oversight Committee is scheduled to vote on whether to advance a measure that would block police accountability legislation passed by the Council of the District of Columbia late last year. If passed, the resolution would head to the House for a full vote, setting the stage for lawmakers to repeal a local Washington law for the second time this year.
CRIME IS JUST THE BEGINNING AS GOP SEEKS TO REIN IN DC’S LIBERAL GOVERNMENT
The vote comes as the committee is set to hold a hearing with district officials on Wednesday morning to examine the city’s policies on crime, education, and homelessness. The hearing is set to feature a showdown between Congress members who want to rein in the city’s self-governance and local lawmakers who have repeatedly urged the federal government to keep its hands off.
“Every year we watch as members of Congress with no connection to the District introduce legislation or insert appropriation riders that detrimentally impact the functions of our government,” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson is expected to say, according to his prepared remarks. “These legislative efforts are often motivated by a desire to score political points on hot topics in national politics without any regard for why we enact the laws that we do or the effect on broader policies.”
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is expected to push back on that argument, pointing to rising crime rates in the city as proof that local lawmakers “have failed in their responsibility to keep safe its citizens and visitors and provide economic and educational opportunities for them,” according to his prepared remarks.
The hearing comes as House Republicans have increasingly inserted themselves into the district’s affairs, seeking to overturn a number of local crime bills. Earlier this month, House Republicans pushed to overturn the district’s revised criminal code that was passed by the D.C. Council late last year that sought to clarify the district’s crime laws and, in some cases, reduce the penalties for violent crimes such as carjackings and homicide.
That bill passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support earlier this month and was signed into law by President Joe Biden last week, marking the first time in 30 years that Congress has repealed a district law passed by the D.C. Council.
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Now, Republicans are targeting local police reform policies passed in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement in 2020. Several of those reforms focused on prohibiting the use of neck restraints, increasing access to body camera footage, and revising officer discipline procedures.
The committee is expected to advance that legislation for full consideration in the House, where it’s likely to pass the Republican majority. It remains unclear whether the bill would pass the Democratic-led Senate, but some Democrats said they would consider it, according to the Washington Post.