Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters
When the House voted to repeal a batch of D.C. criminal justice reforms last month, 173 of 204 voting Democrats—85 percent—opposed the Republican-led push. When the measure came up in the Senate Wednesday night, all but 14 of the Senate’s 51 Democrats joined Republicans to overrule the D.C. Council.
What changed in the last four weeks is a case study in bad politics, bad communication, and a whole lot of Democratic politicians who are afraid to appear soft on crime. More specifically, what changed over that time was President Joe Biden.
Biden announced last week that he would sign the D.C. crime legislation, which would repeal a measure to reduce penalties for certain crimes and block a D.C. bill for the first time in more than 30 years. For all the democratic platitudes about D.C. governing itself—Democratic Party platitudes, more accurately—Congress maintains the ability to overrule local politicians in the District of Columbia.