President Joe Biden signaled this week that he will help Congress override legislation passed by the D.C. Council for the first time in 32 years, taking many Democrats by surprise.
The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy on Feb. 6, saying it supported Washington, D.C., statehood and therefore would not interfere with a local crime bill. But he reversed course Thursday afternoon, saying that if Congress overrode the district’s bill, he’d sign it.
“I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule — 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,” Biden tweeted. “If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it.”
The news came as a surprise to House Democrats because of Biden’s previously expressed opposition to the measure, leading them to believe the White House would support them.
“This is news to me,” House Del. Eleanor Norton (D-DC) said. “I’m very disappointed in it.”
“It’s disappointing for me and anybody who believes in home rule, honestly,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the No. 3 House Democrat, said. “I’m a former mayor of a city of 70,000, and I wouldn’t want the federal government coming in and telling me what city ordinances to pass. … So I think it’s disappointing in that context.”
The D.C. Council bill would reduce penalties for murders, carjackings, armed robberies, armed home invasions, and sexual assault offenses, even amid rising crime in the nation’s capital. If reversed, it would be the first council bill overturned by Congress since 1991.
Biden’s apparent change of heart came as he met with Senate Democrats in the Capitol and two days after Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was booted from her reelection bid amid accusations of being soft on crime.
While it represents a change from his stance in early February, it also arguably represents a return to form for Biden, who has a decadeslong reputation for being tough on crime and soundly rejects calls to defund the police.
“The super progressive wing of the [Democratic] Party is not in any way in step with what is going on in everyday America,” said Republican strategist Amy Koch. “So Democratic leaders like Biden are forced to choose between the super left progressive side of their party and everybody else. They make statements, but when it comes to actual solutions, people want law and order.”
Koch is a Republican strategist based in Minneapolis, where calls for police reform exploded following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. But she’s seen her own city and state turn back from radical policing overhauls.
The White House’s original position statement was issued two days before Jeff Zients took over from Ron Klain as chief of staff, leading some to speculate that it was maybe issued without fully consulting the president.
But while the statement says that Biden supports Washington statehood and therefore opposes an override, it makes no overt arguments in support of the city council’s crime bill, a point press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made Friday.
“There was no veto threat,” she said. “We never laid out where the president was going to go once it came to his desk because we wanted to allow Congress to move forward in a way that they normally do… Now we’re communicating very clearly now that we know that this legislation is going to be at the president’s desk.”
But that wasn’t the understanding of the 173 House Democrats who voted against it. Those Democrats have now provided fodder for Republicans to attack them for being soft on crime.
In fact, the Republican National Committee did that within minutes of Friday’s White House press briefing.
“173 House Democrats backed a law that reduces penalties for murders, carjackings, armed robberies, armed home invasions, and sexual assault offenses,” read the RNC email blast. “Don’t take our word for it — that’s what the Biden administration said the terrible D.C. criminal code change would do.”
That will complicate things come election time for Democrats in moderate districts. Senate Democrats will have to go on records about the bill as well, but with the understanding that they have cover from the White House.
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But in the end, Biden made the prudent choice, argues Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.
“The political concerns about the impact of crime on voters was manifest in Mayor Lightfoot’s failed campaign for reelection,” he said. “The president’s stance helps him and vulnerable Democrats in red and purple states before the 2024 elections. Some House Democrats may be displeased, but Joe Biden is taking one for the team.”
