DC Council Pulls Controversial Crime Bill Before Block by Senate, Biden

At Monday’s press conference, Phil Mendelson, Chairman of the Democratic D.C. Council announced that he would withdraw a controversial criminal codes bill which sought to lower sentences for Capital-based violent crimes.

Although the Revised Criminal Code Act had been passed by the Council, (RCCAIt was rejected by Muriel Bowser (D.C. mayor), and the House of Representatives approved a resolution to reverse it. This bill was to go to the U.S. Senate for a vote that would block it.

“This morning, I delivered a letter to the Senate withdrawing the criminal code reform commission legislation,” Mendelson spoke to reporters during the legislative press conference On March 6,

Mendelson said that he was withdrawing the measure before the Senate would have a chance to vote on it—which he said would give the Council time to rework the bill before resubmitting it at a future date.

The original D.C. legislation was a rewrite of the District’s criminal code that reduced maximum penalties for certain crimes—including burglaries, robberies, and carjackings—and scrapped a number of mandatory minimum sentences.

Republicans and Democrats opposed the bill, who were concerned by the increasing crime rate in our capital. Muriel Bowser was previously the Democratic D.C. mayor and President Joe Biden indicated that she had vetoed it. he would sign a Republican-led resolution To block him if he crosses his desk.

“It’s clear that Congress is intending to override that legislation and so my letter, just as I transmit bills for their review, withdraws from consideration the review,” Mendelson said at Monday’s press conference.

His letter Mendelson addressed Vice President Kamala Harris and explained to her that the Home Rule Act required that a D.C. Council Act be made law before it can be passed to either house of Congress.

“Since the Senate has not yet taken action on D.C. Act 24-789, my withdrawal of this legislation means that Act 24-789 is not properly before Congress at this time,” He wrote.

Mendelson made the move and was now author of the Senate Resolution (pdf) Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) responded with a statement. “The DC Council’s desperate, made-up maneuver not only has no basis in the DC Home Rule Act, but underscores the completely unserious way the Council has legislated,” Hagerty wrote. “No matter how hard they try, the Council cannot avoid accountability for passing this dangerous soft-on-crime bill.”

At the time of publication, it was not clear if the Senate would vote against the RCCA bill.

However, on March 2, President Biden released Twitter statement stating that “if the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did—I’ll sign it.”

Biden expressed his disapproval of the statehood ambitions for Washington D.C.

“I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule,” He wrote “but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections—such as lowering penalties for carjackings.”

The New D.C. Criminal Code’s Chronology

The DC Council states that all laws approved by its 13 members must be reviewed and amended by Congress.

“An approved Act of the Council must be sent to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate for a period of 30 days before becoming effective as law (or 60 days for certain criminal legislation),” according to the Council. “During this period of congressional review, the Congress may enact into law a joint resolution disapproving the Council’s Act.”

“If, during the review period, the President of the United States approves the joint resolution, the Council’s Act is prevented from becoming law. If, however, upon the expiration of the congressional review period, no joint resolution disapproving the Council’s Act has been approved by the President, the Bill finally becomes a Law and is assigned a law number.”

The RCCA was approved unanimously by the D.C. Council, on Nov. 15, 2022.

D.C. Mayor Bowser rejected the bill Jan. 4. However, the D.C. Council adopted the bill Jan. 17. overrode Bowser’s veto With a ratio of 12 votes to 1.

February 9, 2009, the U.S. House reversed (or blocked the) this decision “sweeping rewrite of the criminal code” A resolution was passed under D.C. Home Rule Act. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R.Ga.) led the vote and it resulted in 250 votes to 173, according to Hagerty’s Feb. 9 statement. The resolution was passed by 31 House Democrats, who joined the Republicans.

“The D.C. Council’s radical rewrite of the criminal code threatens the well-being of both Washingtonians and visitors — making our nation’s capital city a haven for violent criminals,” Clyde said in the statement. “In response to this dangerous and severely misguided measure, it’s now up to Congress to save our nation’s capital from itself.”

A companion resolution was also presented by Sen. Hagarty in the Senate on February 9.

“I implore my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in this effort,” Hagarty spoke out in February 14. press conference About the solution. “Combatting crime should not be a Republican or a Democrat issue—it should be a commonsense issue.”

Biden declared on March 2 that he would be signing the resolution if it was passed by the Senate. On March 6, the RCCA bill had been withdrawn.

Starting at NTD News