- Democrats are "disappointed" and angry with Biden's position on a GOP move to block a DC crime law.
- Biden said Thursday he wouldn't veto the resolution.
President Joe Biden's decision to allow Congress to overrule a DC crime law has riled House Democrats, the overwhelming majority of whom opposed the GOP-led measure as an attack on DC home rule.
"We should allow DC to conduct its own business," Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York told Insider. "It's actually very infuriating that the President did that."
Biden tweeted his reasoning on Thursday, saying he supports DC statehood and home rule, but not the changes to the city's criminal code — such as lower penalties for carjackings — that the DC Council approved over the objections of Mayor Muriel Bowser. "If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I'll sign it," he added.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out Biden's decision, saying "This ain't it."
"If the President supports DC statehood, he should govern like it," she tweeted.
—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 3, 2023
The GOP-led House passed the DC opposition measure 250-173 last month, with 31 Democrats supporting it. Biden's move potentially exposes 173 House Democrats to GOP attacks and gives political cover to Senate Democratic supporters of the measure when it comes up for a vote in the chamber, possibly next week.
Biden's position caught DC Del. Eleanor Homes Norton by surprise during a news conference Thursday. "This is news to me," she said, adding that she was "very disappointed."
Holmes Norton, following up with reporters on Friday, said that, given the rise in crime across the country and in DC, the issue posed a political problem for Democrats who lost their seats — and for Biden.
"I think it is all political," she said. "It comes at a time when crime is going up around the country, but I had hoped that he would stick to where he usually has been, which is to support home rule."
The criminal code revisions include reducing maximum criminal penalties for certain offenses and allow more jury trials for misdemeanor offenses. Mayor Bowser urged the Senate to reject the opposition measure in order to support "the basic democratic principles of self-determination and local control."
The District tried to take an evidence-based approach to revising the criminal code, looking at what penalties were deterrents, she said. She thought Biden should have made his opinion on the matter known sooner.
The resolution's passage would mark the first time the federal government has voted to overrule DC legislation in decades and undermines the campaign for DC statehood. House Democratic Caucus chairman Pete Aguilar, speaking at a forum organized by Punchbowl News, called Biden's decision "disappointing."
As a former mayor of Redlands, California, he said, "I wouldn't want the federal government coming in and telling me what city ordinances to pass."
Bowman also questioned why the federal government is stepping on the District as it attempts to change an "antiquated policy" that he said was "very draconian and needed to be changed."
The issue also extends beyond home rule, he told Insider. Everyone wants strong law enforcement for violent crime, he said, but he argued that there could be other effective approaches for most other offenses.
"The issue of a more just justice system overall, is something that I'm very passionate about and I think we all should be focused on and passionate about," he said.
Asked about Biden's decision, Bowman said police unions are powerful. "And we are scared to death to be critical of law enforcement, and scared to death to be seen as weak and crime," he said.