Democrats are angry after President Joe Biden said he would back a GOP led effort to override a Washington, D.C., crime reform bill that would reduce penalties for crimes like burglaries and carjackings, according to Politico.
The Biden administration had previously condemned the House Republicans’ efforts to ax the bill, leading the majority of House Democrats to vote against it, Politico reported. When Biden announced Thursday that he would sign the resolution if it reaches his desk, Democrats were angered.
“F****** AMATEUR HOUR. HEADS SHOULD ROLL OVER AT THE WHITE HOUSE OVER THIS,” a House Democrat told The Hill. “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 D.C. Council passed the crime bill in November, but it was then vetoed by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. When her council overruled the veto, House Republicans stepped in by introducing a resolution to override the bill in February, as crimes are up in D.C.
Overall crime in the nation’s capitol is up compared to last year, with homicides up 37%, car theft up 111% and property crime up 32%, according to MPD data.
“The White House f***** this up royally,” the House Democrat told The Hill. (RELATED: House, Senate GOP To Start ‘DC Home Rule Vote’ To Block District’s New Crime Law)
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York criticized the president and said he should stay out of D.C. lawmaking.
“This ain’t it. DC has a right to govern itself, like any other state or municipality. If the President supports DC statehood, he should govern like it,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet.
Several Senate Democrats have already committed to backing the resolution, including Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, according to Politico. This puts Republicans in a good position to pass this in the Senate, even with a Democratic majority of 51-49.
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.
If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2023
“Defending those without power matters — past pledges of support for DC Statehood couldn’t ring more hollow. Its a reminder that until the nearly 700,000 residents of DC have full statehood & autonomy, we will be seen & treated as a colony, even by those who purport to support us,” Charles Allen, D.C. councilmember, said in a tweet.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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