bipartisanship Archives - Dr. Rich Swier

The U.S. House passed legislation Wednesday to block the Washington, D.C., City Council’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2022.

The legislation was first obtained by the Daily Caller in March and focuses on the D.C. crime law, which reduces police power amid rising crime in the district. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) faces a historic staffing shortage and has struggled to recruit new officers.

It passed the House 229-189. Fourteen Democrats voted with Republicans in passing the legislation.

Congress can exercise authority over D.C. local affairs, according to the District Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17), and Congress reviews all D.C. legislation before it can become law. Congress can change or even overturn D.C. legislation and can impose new laws on the district.

Since Jan. 2020, the MPD has lost more than 1,100 officers and is currently operating in an officer deficit.

“The House has now taken another pivotal step in the fight to restore law and order in our nation’s capital city. Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to prevent the D.C. Council’s anti-police law from remaining in place, as this misguided bill severely hinders the Metropolitan Police Department’s ongoing effort to recruit and retain officers — exacerbating an already alarming problem as the police force has dwindled to a staggering half-century low under these disparaging policies,” Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia told the Caller after the legislation passed.

“The Council’s legislation also significantly limits MPD officers from effectively doing their jobs, jeopardizing Americans’ safety in our crime-ridden capital. I thank my colleagues for passing my life-saving, pro-police resolution with bipartisan support, and I now call on both the Senate and the White House to put people over politics by joining our effort to improve public safety in our nation’s capital city.”

The Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 would:

Prohibit the Review of BWC Recordings by Investigating Officers
Require the Immediate Release of Body-Worn Camera Footage and Names of Officers in Serious Use of Force Matters
Remove All Police Officers from the Office of Police Complaints Board and the Union Representatives from the Use of Force Review Board
Remove a rank-and-file police representative from the Use of Force Review Board and expands the voting members to include anti-police activists
Allows for the Disclosure of Disciplinary Records and Creates a Public Discipline Database
Eliminates Collective Bargaining Rights of Police Officers
Eliminates the Requirement of Bringing Timely Discipline Against D.C. Police Officers
Repeals D.C. Code 5-1031, which requires the MPD to commence discipline against D.C. police officers within 90 business days, which will result in abusively long disciplinary investigations that violate the Constitutional rights of D.C. police officers

“This battle is far from over, as the District’s officials continue to fail both residents and visitors on a daily basis. I remain committed to returning our nation’s capital city back to the American people and restoring Congress’ full exclusive legislative authority over Washington, as our wise Founders intended in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution,” Clyde added.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution of disapproval to block the Washington, D.C., City Council’s Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, which would lower penalties for a number of violent criminal offenses. The Caller first broke the news of the legislation on Feb. 2. The vote was 81-14, with a total of 33 Democrats voting with Republicans to pass the bill.

The D.C. Council approved the Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA) in Nov. 2022. The RCCA reduces penalties for certain violent criminal offenses, including carjackings, robberies and homicides. Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed the bill on Jan. 4, but the council overrode her veto Jan. 17 by a vote of 12-1.

The legislation picked up support from the D.C. Police Union, who said the act’s proposals are dangerous and would lead to more crime in the nation’s capital.

“The introduction of this new House Joint Resolution is necessary to protect public safety in our Nation’s Capital,” D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton said. “This Act is a dangerous law that destroys collective bargaining rights of MPD police officers, eviscerates due process, reduces less-lethal options for law enforcement during a riot, and further contributes to the critical staffing crisis that is plaguing the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) today. This Act is laced with bad policies with real-world consequences that delay justice for families and victims.”

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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President Joe Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill Thursday that would limit his administration’s broad interpretation of the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule that grants the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) significant new authority.

The president rejected the bill, arguing that his administration’s new rule provides “clear rules of the road” to protect both economic efforts and water quality under the Clean Water Act, according to the veto. The rule dramatically expands the traditional limits of WOTUS — which allow the EPA to regulate navigable waters — to include all territorial seas, interstate waters, adjacent wetlands, traditional waters’ tributaries and some artificial reservoirs.

“The resolution would leave Americans without a clear definition of ‘Waters of the United States,’” Biden said in the veto. “The increased uncertainty caused by H.J. Res. 27 would threaten economic growth, including for agriculture, local economies, and downstream communities.”

Opponents of the rule currently lack the votes required to overcome the president’s veto.

Following a presidential veto, “Americans will need to hope the Supreme Court makes it clear that these EPA bureaucrats are way outside the authority that Congress actually provided in the Clean Water Act,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a March statement following the resolution’s passage by the Senate. He decried the Biden administration’s interpretation of the rule as a “radical power grab that would give federal bureaucrats sweeping control over nearly every piece of land that touches a pothole, ditch, or puddle.”

President Biden has once again turned his back on Iowa farmers and rural America.

His veto of @HouseGOP’s bipartisan resolution to overturn his overreaching WOTUS rule will saddle our producers with red tape, increase grocery bills for our families & threaten our food security.

— Rep. Randy Feenstra (@RepFeenstra) April 6, 2023

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of four Democratic senators who supported the bill, also issued a statement in March, encouraging the president to sign the bill.

“The Administration’s WOTUS rule is yet another example of dangerous federal overreach,” said Manchin in the statement. “The proposed changes would inject further regulatory confusion, place unnecessary burdens on small businesses, manufacturers, farmers and local communities, and cause serious economic damage. It is essential to ensure clean water for all West Virginians and Americans, but we can achieve this without regulating our hard-working people out of business.”

“The Biden administration’s WOTUS rule creates unnecessary confusion & burdensome red tape for [Montana] farmers, ranchers & landowners—that’s why the Senate voted to overturn it,” Republican Sen. Steve Daines said in a tweet immediately following the announcement. “[Joe Biden’s] veto today shows just how far he’s willing to go to impose big government regulations on [Montanans].”

A federal judge in late March stopped the Biden administration from implementing the rule in Texas and Idaho. At the time, the EPA told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it believes the expanded rule “is the best interpretation of the Clean Water Act,” and noted that it was still going into effect “in all other jurisdictions in the U.S.”

The EPA did not immediately respond to a DCNF request for comment.

AUTHOR

JOHN HUGH DEMASTRI

Contributor.

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