President backs Republican effort
Biden on Senate visit to promote Dem unity
President Joe Biden visited the Senate on Thursday to demonstrate unity among Democrats — but he ended up endorsing a Republican priority instead.
With Democrats acknowledging they cannot get much done in the closely divided Congress, Biden has pledged to try to find areas where the two parties can agree.
He made good on that promise in remarks at a caucus luncheon, telling senators that he will sign a Gop-backed measure to overturn changes to the criminal code in the District of Columbia.
“If you pass it, I will sign it,” Biden said, according to multiple people in the room who requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.
Accompanying Biden as he left the luncheon, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he believes “we can get a lot of good bipartisan stuff done in these two years” and that Democrats “are filled with unity, optimism — and optimism about 2024.”
Even so, Schumer’s Democratic Senate has been largely immobilized this year.
In the absence of Democratic legislation, Republicans are finding some success advancing their own policy goals — by forcing votes on Biden administration regulations that they see as overly burdensome.
The Republican resolution that Biden said he will support would override the District of Columbia’s effort to overhaul how the city prosecutes and punishes crime as the local murder rate has skyrocketed. The House passed the same measure last month with some Democratic support.
As they left the caucus meeting with Biden, several Democratic senators said they will support, or are considering supporting, the Republican effort to repeal the changes to the D.C. criminal code.