Multiple Democrats are undecided about how they will vote on a measure that would overturn a rewriting of Washington, DC’s criminal code, which critics have argued is soft on violent criminals.
The measure is expected to come up for a vote by next week and only needs a simple majority to pass. Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, has said he will vote with Republicans on it.
Congress, under DC’s Home Rule charter, is able to veto every law approved by either DC voters or government. If the repeal passes,it is likely to be the first bill that President Joe Biden will consider vetoing. Biden has said he opposes rescinding the DC crime measure but has not explicitly said if he will veto it.
The question is whether Manchin will be alone in his vote. If he is, it would be the first time that Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman’s absence had an effect on a vote in the Senate because then the measure would only need 50 votes to pass. Fetterman has stepped away from the Senate for the time being to seek treatment for depression.
Many Democrats oppose overriding the DC law. They argue local officials should make their own laws free of congressional interference and decry Republicans as hypocrites since they typically promote state and local rights. The law was passed after the city council overrode the veto of Mayor Muriel Bowser who, despite her opposition to the new law, opposes Congress overturning it.
The DC Council had defended the measure in a letter last week, writing that “the District of Columbia has the right to self-govern as granted to us under the Home Rule Act.”
“Any changes or amendments to the District’s local laws should be done by the elected representatives of the District of Columbia. As those representatives, we alone are accountable to the voters of the District of Columbia,” the letter continued,…
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