GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill
Senate measure fails in 1st test after spate of mass shootings
WASHINGTON — Democrats’ first attempt at responding to the backto-back mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, failed Thursday in the Senate as Republicans blocked a domestic terrorism bill that would have opened debate on difficult questions surrounding hate crimes and gun safety.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. tried to nudge Republicans into taking up a domestic terrorism bill that had cleared the House quickly last week after mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and a church in Southern California targeting people of color. He said it could become the basis for negotiation.
But the vote failed along party lines, raising fresh doubts about the possibility of robust debate, let alone eventual compromise, on gun safety measures. The final vote was 47-47, far short of the 60 needed to take up the bill. All Republicans voted against it.
“None of us are under any illusions this will be easy,” Schumer said ahead of the vote.
Rejection of the bill, just two days after the mass shooting at Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers, brought into sharp relief Congress’ persistent failure to pass legislation to curb the nation’s epidemic of gun violence.
Schumer said he will give bipartisan negotiations in the Senate about two weeks, while Congress is away for a break, to try to forge a compromise bill that could pass the 50-50 Senate, where 60 votes will be needed to overcome a filibuster.
A small, bipartisan group of senators who have for years sought to negotiate legislation on guns met Thursday for the second time searching any compromise that could win approved in Congress.
They narrowed to three topics — background checks for guns purchased online or at gun shows, red flag laws designed to keep guns away from those who could harm themselves or others, and programs to bolster security at schools and other buildings.
“We have a range of options that we’re going to work on,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who is leading the negotiations.
Murphy has been working to push gun legislation since the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and six educators. He was joined Thursday by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and others.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., exited the meeting saying there is no appetite for a federal red flag law or a so-called yellow flag law — which permits temporary firearm confiscation from people in danger of hurting themselves or others, if a medical practitioner signs off.
But Graham said there could be interest in providing money to the states that already have red flag laws or that want to develop them.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who circulated a draft at the meeting, will work with Graham on a potential compromise.
“These laws save lives,” Blumenthal said.
Toomey told reporters that Manchin-Toomey background check bill — which failed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting — still does not have enough support. Manchin said he hoped this time would be different.
“I can’t get my grandchildren out of my mind. It could have been them,” Manchin said.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has said little about gun legislation since the recent tragedies unfolded, told reporters that he met with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, earlier and encouraged senators to work together across the aisle on workable outcomes.
“I am hopeful that we could come up with a bipartisan solution that’s directly related to the facts of this awful massacre,” McConnell said.
The domestic terrorism bill that failed Thursday, meanwhile, dates back to 2017, when Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., first proposed it after mass shootings in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Texas.
The House passed a similar measure by a voice vote in 2020, only to have it languish in the Senate. Since then, Republicans have turned against the legislation, with only one GOP lawmaker supporting passage in the House last week.
Republicans say the bill doesn’t place enough emphasis on combating domestic terrorism committed by far-left groups. Under the bill, agencies would be required to produce a joint report every six months that assesses and quantifies domestic terrorism threats nationally, including threats by white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups.
Proponents say the bill will fill the gaps in intelligence-sharing among the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and the FBI so that officials can better track and respond to the growing threat of white extremist terrorism.
Under current law, the three federal agencies work to investigate, prevent and prosecute acts of domestic terrorism. But the bill would require each agency to open offices specifically dedicated to those tasks and create an interagency task force to combat the infiltration of white supremacy in the military.