Senate overwhelmingly approves DC crime bill challenge

The Senate on Wednesday night overwhelmingly passed a GOP-led resolution to repeal a Washington, DC crime bill that critics said was soft on crime amid rising crime rates in the nation’s capital.

Most Senate Democrats aligned with the Republicans as the final record was 81-14.

The vote came after the head of the DC City Council on Monday attempted to withdraw the legislation to avoid being hit by a Senate reprimand.

A number of Senate Democrats pointed this out to excuse their votes.

“Both the City Council Chairman — who withdrew the law — and the Mayor have indicated that these DC Penal Code amendments are not ready for prime time,” said a statement by Virginia Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.

“We will vote in favor of the rejection resolution and call on the mayor and council to work together to create a safer city for everyone, including the many Virginians who commute to DC for work every day,” they added.

DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson announced Monday that he has withdrawn a controversial criminal code bill to prevent a Senate vote on it

The Democrats who voted in favor followed the lead of President Joe Biden.

Biden had signaled he would support the Republican bill to block the measure — even as his administration reacted harshly for violating its own admonitions to protect self-government in the city.

The process had already begun when Council Chairman Phil Mendelson wrote to Vice President Kamala Harris to try to get the law passed.

“Not only does the law not permit a revocation of a transfer, but at this time the privileged motion of Senate Republicans will act on the House resolution of rejection and not on the DC Council’s submission to the Senate,” a Senate executive assistant told Opposite DailyMail.com: “We still expect the vote to take place.”

The vote ended around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, closing an episode that exposed a rift in the Democratic Party over Washington, D.C. autonomy.

With no statehood, DC’s Home Rule Act allows Congress to review the city’s laws.

Mendelson said the council, which supported the combined penal code amendments over Mayor Muriel Bowser’s objections, will amend the law and later bring it to Congress.

Mendelson suggested that Biden and congressional Democrats side with Republicans to make it clear that they would not be lenient on crime ahead of the 2024 general election.

“This is about next year’s campaign,” he said. “That’s what this is about, it’s about making videos that the so-and-so senator voted to be soft on crime in the District of Columbia.”

A number of House Democrats who voted against repealing the criminal law also expressed outrage at Biden.

Press spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre had said that “if the bill reaches the President, he will sign it”.

At the same time, she said Biden continues to support DC statehood.

“He believes, and has for a while, that DC should be a 51 state,” she said. The move “doesn’t change the fact that he encourages Congress to pass legislation making DC a state, and he will sign it.”

But she justified Biden’s move by saying the president was concerned about American safety.

“One thing the President believes in is making sure the streets of America and communities across the country are safe,” Jean-Pierre said. “This includes DC”