Democrat blasts White House over Biden’s support of DC crime bill nix

Democrats laid into President Biden on Thursday after he announced that he would back federal legislation overriding a Washington DC crime bill that has been called soft on criminals.

“The White House f–king this up royally,” an anonymous House Democrat told the Hill. 

“F–KING AMATEUR HOUR. HEADS SHOULD ROLL OVER AT THE WHITE HOUSE OVER THIS,” the lawmaker added, noting that the White House had previously expressed its opposition to the resolution nixing the bill, and claimed that it would back the DC City Council. 

DC officials also expressed their outrage at the 80-year-old president’s apparent about-face on the matter. 

“Today has been a sad day for DC home rule and DC residents’ right to self-governance, which President Biden himself highlighted in his administration’s Statement of Administration Policy issued mere weeks ago,” DC’s non-voting Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said in a statement Thursday. 

“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,” she added.

“I will continue to do everything within my power to persuade the president that signing or failing to veto the resolution would empower the paternalistic, anti-democratic Republican opposition to the principle of local control over local affairs,” Norton said. 

The District’s bill would lower the max sentence for carjacking from 21 years — 40 if armed with a gun — to 18 years, or 24 if armed. The max penalty for armed robbery would be reduced from 45 years to 20 years.

DC’s attorney general also weighed-in Thursday, blasting the effort by Republicans in Congress to overturn DC law and the president’s lack of resistance to it. 

“Any effort to overturn DC laws degrades the right of its nearly 700,000 residents and elected officials to self-govern — a right that almost every other American has,” Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote on Twitter.

“As the city’s chief legal officer, I will continue to advocate for DC’s full autonomy and #Statehood,” he added. 

The House voted 250-173 last month to override the DC law, with 31 Democrats joining all Republicans voting in favor.

In a tweet on Thursday, the president said he supports “D.C. Statehood and home-rule” but specifically called out the issue of carjackings in the District in his explanation of why he won’t veto legislation overturning the DC City Council’s law.

“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,” Biden wrote.

“If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it,” he added. 

Carjackings in the District increased for a fifth straight year in 2022, according to DC crime statistics, with 485 incidents reported to law enforcement – a 14% increase from 2021.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) noted Thursday that the president’s reversal indicates that he recognizes that leniency for criminals threatens public safety.

“By rejecting D.C.‘s law, President Biden acknowledged the basic fact that soft-on-crime policies endanger the public,” Cotton wrote in a tweet.

“He should apply the same reasoning to drug trafficking, defunding the police, and illegal immigration,” the Arkansas Republican added.