Biden rallies Senate Democrats, endorses Republican measure
WASHINGTON — 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.
Biden later tweeted: “I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings. If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it.”
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 as the newly Republican House has shown little appetite for compromise. While Schumer gained a coveted extra seat for his party in the November elections, bringing the margin to 51-49, Democrats have not yet been able to use their majority to advance any of their policy goals.
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.
“If anything, we should be increasing penalties for certain offenses,” Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said. He said he will vote to overturn the changes to the D.C. code.
Justice Dept. says Trump can be sued for Jan. 6 claims
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump can be sued by injured Capitol Police officers and Democratic lawmakers over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department said Thursday in a federal court case testing Trump’s legal vulnerability for his speech before the riot.
The Justice Department told a Washington federal appeals court in a legal filing that it should allow the lawsuits to move forward, rejecting Trump’s argument that he is immune from the claims.