Republican-led House votes to BLOCK DC laws on crime and voting
House votes to BLOCK DC plans that would have given lower sentences to violent criminals and would have allowed non-citizens to vote in elections
- House Republicans led two resolutions on Thursday that critics say encroach on Washington, DC’s right to self govern with regard to local affairs
- More than two dozen House Democrats voted for both resolutions
- The crime overhaul resolution passed 250-173, the bill on voting passed 260-162
The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass a resolution disapproving of Washington, DC‘s newly revised criminal code.
The capital city council’s massive overhaul includes lowering maximum penalties for crimes such as carjackings and robberies. It also allows nearly all misdemeanor charges the right to a jury trial.
House lawmakers voted to condemn the new rules 250 to 173, with 31 Democrats joining Republicans in its passage.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser had objected to the criminal code overhaul, joining police groups in warning that it could send the wrong message about public safety.
It comes as property crimes pose a growing problem for DC officials and cops in cities across the country.
The new House Republican majority led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy passed a pair of resolutions on Thursday opposing new local DC laws
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser had even conceded that the city council’s new overhaul of the crime code may go too far
But Bowser, the DC council and other local officials have historically been united in opposing Congress meddling in the city’s ability to self-govern – something House Republicans signaled today they are ready to take on.
In addition to the resolution condemning the city’s crime code overhaul, the Republican-led majority also passed a resolution attacking a DC bill aimed at allowing undocumented immigrants to vote in local elections.
That measure got even more Democratic support, with 41 left-wing lawmakers voting with nearly every House Republican.
It passed with 260 votes for and 162 against.
‘I can only conclude that the Republican leadership believes DC residents, the majority of whom are Black and Brown, are unworthy or incapable of governing themselves,’ DC’s non-voting Delegate Eleanor Holmes Watson said on the House floor Thursday.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, who introduced the resolution regarding DC’s crime code, wrote on Twitter: ‘We must ensure all Americans can safely enjoy our nation’s capital city.’
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, who also led GOP support for the pair of resolutions, accused the DC council of passing ‘radical bills that would embolden criminals to remain on the streets and allow non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in local elections.’
‘Today the House took the first step to prevent two of the D.C. Council’s irresponsible and dangerous laws from going into effect,’ Comer said.
Police gather at the scene of a shooting on a metro bus at the corner of 14th and Sheridan St NW in the Brightwood neighborhood in Washington, DC on January 11, 2023
‘These misguided efforts would allow crime to run rampant and disenfranchise American citizens in our nation’s capital.’
But local DC officials and advocates for DC statehood have long been against Congress exercising its authority over the national capital, given that federal lawmakers are not beholden to or held accountable by the city’s residents.
Progressive group DC Vote called the votes an ‘attempt to undermine our District’s will.’
Its spokesperson Patrice Snow also criticized Republicans who led the charge for doing so ‘without a single hearing where a DC resident or DC elected official were allowed to speak on the merits of revising the criminal code or allowing all residents, regardless of their immigrant status, participate in only local elections.’
‘It is clearer now than it ever was before that overturning the little democracy that the 700,000 tax paying residents currently have is the goal,’ the spokesperson said.