Dems Rip Biden After He Embarrasses Them By Siding With Republicans
House Democrats slammed President Joe Biden for siding with Republicans and moderate Democrats in opposing the District of Columbia’s crime law. On Thursday, Biden stated that he would sign a resolution to stop the bill, which has been criticized for certain soft-on-crime aspects.
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.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2023
If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.
Biden revealed to Senate Democrats that he would support a bill-blocking effort.
“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,” he said. “If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.”
One angry House Dem blasted Biden via text messages to The Hill: “The White House f*cked this up royally. So a lot of us who are allies voted no in order to support what the White House wanted. And now we are being hung out to dry,” the lawmaker continued.
“F*cking AMATEUR HOUR. HEADS SHOULD ROLL OVER AT THE WHITE HOUSE OVER THIS,” the Dem added.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the No. 3 House Democrat, went on record with his rebuke: “It’s disappointing for me and anybody who believes in home rule, honestly.”
“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,” he added. “So I think it’s disappointing in that context. I voted against it, but I understand and respect the president’s position here.”
“We’ll see, the Senate has to pass that, and I know that they’ve said they have the votes but all of those things have to happen,” he went on. “But it’s disappointing for those of us who believe in home rule.”
Democrat D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton objected to the proposal, citing rising crime rates.
“Today has been a sad day for D.C. home rule and D.C. residents’ right to self-governance,” Norton said.
“We had hoped that with more Senate support, we would have been able to ensure that neither disapproval resolution pending before the Senate would reach the president’s desk, but with the nationwide increase in crime, most senators do not want to be seen as supporting criminal justice reform.”
The failure of the criminal bill is being hailed as one of the McCarthy-led House’s few landmark victories thus far.
