CONGRESS
Senate Democrats weigh shutting down GOP police
reform plan
The caucus is split on whether to block the bill or
try to amend it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his members
will debate strategy on the GOP bill this week. Schumer on Wednesday called the
GOP legislation a "bad bill."
By BURGESS
EVERETT
06/17/2020
05:16 PM EDT
Senate
Democrats are agonizing over what to do about Senate Republicans’ police reform
proposal.
They can
either vote down the legislation next week and face charges of obstruction amid
a national reckoning on race — or advance a bill they say needs massive changes
in order to meet the moment. The dilemma was hoisted on them Wednesday after
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abruptly rejiggered the Senate schedule
to bring legislation from Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to the floor.
Democrats
have little intention of allowing the bill to pass as is, but the caucus is
divided over the best path forward. “And that’s for good reason,” Sen. Chris
Murphy (D-Conn.) said.
“A lot of
this is determined by whether McConnell wants to ram this through or whether he
wants to have an actual debate,” said Murphy, who is undecided on how he will
vote on a critical procedural vote. “If this isn’t a fair process, I don’t know
that Mitch McConnell’s going to be able to convince people that it is.”
Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his members will debate strategy
this week, according to multiple Democratic senators. And the vote isn’t likely
to occur until Wednesday of next week so they have a little bit of time. But
Democrats have to tread carefully, particularly in an election year in which
the party’s base is eager for action.
Schumer
called the GOP proposal on Wednesday a “bad bill” and said Democrats are
“figuring out what to do with it.”
Privately,
Democrats say enough of their members may be inclined to at least debate the
bill, though no decision has been made.
Some say it
could be a mistake to advance what they view as a bad bill that lacks a federal
chokehold ban and doesn’t make it easier to sue police for misconduct — key
Democratic asks in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and
nationwide protests.
Sen. Kirsten
Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said if the “bill is as limited as I understand it to be,
then I don’t think it’s valuable to get on the bill.” And she’s not alone.
“You have
to remember who the leader of their party is and what he’s all about. And you
have to remember how he’s conducted himself in other instances like this with
gun safety, with immigration,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said of McConnell.
Schatz is leaning toward a filibuster to block the bill. “We’re not going to
fall for the banana in the tailpipe.”
But others
in the party are open to proceeding to the measure in the hopes that McConnell
would at least give them the opportunity to offer their own proposals.
“I would
like to think that we would all be inclined to start this debate,” Sen. Joe
Manchin (D-W.Va.) said, adding Republicans had indicated they’d allow
amendments to be considered. “Unless McConnell’s not genuine.”
This is a
modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating
the close button.
Regardless
of their views on procedure, Democrats are mostly in agreement about the substance
of the GOP bill. Manchin said not including a strict ban on police chokeholds
makes "no sense” and Schatz said the “baseline” should be competing
legislation from Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).
Harris,
Booker and House Democrats are pushing a proposal that would strengthen federal
control of police standards, while Scott and Senate Republicans encourage
states and cities to decrease use of force and misconduct. Both parties favor
better data collection and more transparency.
But while
House Democrats can jam through their legislation on a simple majority, Senate
Republicans need at least seven Democrats to join them first to open debate and
then to close it before final passage.
Scott said
if the bill can’t even get to the floor, “folks will have less confidence in
this nation because we missed a moment.” But even if it makes it to the floor,
there are still plenty of hurdles ahead.
Cutting
deals on amendment votes — particularly on controversial social issues — is
always tricky, requiring buy-in from all 100 senators to get to a finite list.
A truly free-wheeling amendment process is rare in the Senate, and rarer still
in a presidential election year. Most amendments will also likely need 60 votes
to be adopted.
“If we can
get on the bill and have an open amendment process, then they get the chance to
offer as many as they want,” Senate Majority Whip John Thune said. “The best
thing is to get on the bill, open it up — and let’s let the Senate do its work
and its will and see where it goes.”
But it’s
hard to see how the process ends in a bill with the supermajority support
needed to pass the Senate.
As written,
it’s unclear whether any Democrats will support it.
“I want to
work with people that want real police reform unlike the people that want to
just act like they’re doing reform,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said.
“McConnell’s going to always do what plays to his bigoted base and his money
base.”
Harris and
Booker said the GOP’s bill falls short because it doesn’t allow consequences
for bad-acting police officers and doesn’t ban no-knock raids, among other
things. Harris said Scott’s proposal “does not meet the moment; his bill would
literally not save a life.”
“This bill
is highly problematic and won’t save lives. Our bill will,” Booker said. “It
wouldn’t prevent Breonna Taylor from dying. It wouldn’t prevent people from
being shot by police. It won’t change the culture.”
By signing
up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can
unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Republicans
counter that making the changes requested by Democrats would lose GOP votes and
end prospects for a deal.
The
legislation has nearly uniform support among Republicans. And an effort to
remove qualified immunity, which protects police officers from legal action,
would result in a “short conversation,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey
Graham (R-S.C.) said. Republicans, in other words, won’t go for it.
“The
qualified immunity line is not one we’re going to cross,” Sen. Mitt Romney
(R-Utah) added.
Senate
Minority Whip Dick Durbin, however, said addressing qualified immunity is
“critical” to Democrats. He said there might be ways to compromise with
Republicans — but not if the Senate debate shuts down next week before it even
starts.
The
question “is whether or not McConnell is offering this in good faith. If this
is a high-noon moment and [Republicans] want to embarrass the Democrats by
having them vote ‘no’ and then we’ll adjourn, it’s a waste of time,” Durbin said.
“But we shouldn’t rule out the possibility that the Senate could actually be
the Senate.”
Marianne
LeVine and Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário