McConnell says if Democrats want to amend his proposal, they need to cough up the seven votes needed to get to 60 and break a filibuster. Yet Harris, Booker and Schumer said they need a bipartisan negotiation at the outset rather than simply taking up a partisan police bill — and that even amendments can’t save the legislation written by GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. Schumer said there is „overwhelming opposition“ to the legislation among Democrats.
“We will not meet this moment by holding a floor vote on the JUSTICE Act, nor can we simply amend this bill, which is so threadbare and lacking in substance that it does not even provide a proper baseline for negotiations,” the three senators wrote to McConnell.
The debate comes amid a national reckoning on race and police violence after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and nationwide protests.
The Republicans’ proposal creates incentives for local police departments to reform their policies to stop misconduct; Democrats want to establish stiffer federal standards against the use of force and ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants.
Scott’s bill currently has no Democratic supporters in the Senate and was brought directly to the floor rather than through the Judiciary Committee, where it could have been amended and negotiated by committee leaders. Republicans had not planned to hold a vote in June, but scrambled to restructure their agenda after the wave of protests as well as statements by Scott that the party needed to seize the moment now.
The note from the Democratic leader as well as its two Black members demonstrates that most other Senate Democrats are ready to block the GOP proposal absent new negotiations. Schumer said that „Leader McConnell is leading the Senate into a cul-de-sac: A process designed to fail.“
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a top McConnell ally, called Democrats’ posture „pathetic.“ And McConnell said on Tuesday morning that Democrats would leave the country „in the lurch“ if they brought the bill down before debate even began.
„The American people deserve better than a partisan stalemate. The American people deserve for the Senate to take up this issue at this time,“ McConnell said. „Senate Republicans want to have this discussion. We’re ready to make a law, not just make a point.“
McConnell reiterated on Tuesday that if Democrats want amendment votes, they need to get on the bill.
The Democrats’ letter also appears to rule out the possibility of going to conference with the House with a version of Scott’s bill, which Speaker Nancy Pelosi said was doable after the House passes its own more sweeping plan later this week. But in Senate Democrats’ view they can’t support even sending Scott’s bill to conference.
Booker said on Tuesday morning that „the American people are not in the streets chanting ‘give us a commission'“ nor are they chanting „we need more data.“ Harris said the GOP bill pays „lip service“ to the moment.
„Let’s proceed with action. Not gestures,“ she said.
Harris, Booker and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) met with Scott and GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon. Several declined comment afterward.
One top Senate Republican said a Democratic filibuster would essentially end efforts to overhaul police practices until at least next year.
“There’s probably no path forward in this Congress if they block debate tomorrow,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of GOP leadership. “The speaker’s interest in going to conference should have reminded Senate Democrats that you can actually vote for a bill that you don’t think is perfect and get it to conference to see if it comes back better.”
But a number of Democratic senators came out in opposition to debating the Scott bill on Monday evening after a long party conference call. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund urged the Democratic minority to filibuster the GOP bill Monday and Democratic-aligned groups are expected to join their call.
Marianne LeVine and Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.
Source: politico.com
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