Does the GOP really ‘back the blue’?

Forget rhetoric; look at the agenda of the Republican Study Committee.

For all their leadership instability, one common refrain echoed almost daily by congressional Republicans is that we have a crime crisis in America and Democrats (and the president) are to blame. Not to let the facts get in the way of a good story, it’s worth noting that homicide rates across the country are plummeting. And yet, the rhetoric from House Republicans across the country from New York to California tells a completely different story.

Rep. Brandon Williams (RN.Y.) tweeted earlier this month, “I ran on re-funding the police and standing up to lawless bail-reform.” Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) posted: “More police funding and actually enforcing the law? A novel idea.” As did Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.): “We stand by our police and protect them from damaging legislation that undermines public safety.” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) lectured: “For families worried about crime across the country, it’s simple — defunding law enforcement means defunding public safety.” Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) pledged: “I will always back the blue and fight to keep our communities safe.” Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) warned: “Calls to defund the police are dangerous and radical. I will always stand with law enforcement and vote to support the police.”

And while there is great geographic diversity among these House Republicans, what they all have in common is that they are a part of the Republican Study Committee, one of the most powerful coalitions in Congress whose membership includes 100% of the current Republican leadership and nearly 80% of the entire House GOP conference. Past RSC chairs include former Vice President Mike Pence, current Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, and current House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

Since its inception in 1973, it has represented the largest ideological bloc within the Republican conference, giving it an outsize say in what goes into legislation and what legislation is ultimately given a vote on the House floor. When it comes to Republican politics in Congress, it is virtually impossible to ascend to any leadership position without the blessing of the study committee. Its stamp of approval is a necessity for any bill that has a prayer of advancing through the legislative process.

Given its members’ rhetoric about crime and public safety, it might surprise you to discover that the Republican Study Committee just released a new budget proposal for 2025 that actually cuts funding meant for local police departments.

The proposal would defund the Community Oriented Policing Services program, or COPS. The program was created in the wake of the rise in crime in the 1990s. It has provided more than $20 billion to more than 13,000 different police departments nationwide, resulting in the addition of more than 160,000 officers focused on the kind of accountable, proactive law enforcement that’s called community policing.

The thinking behind the RSC budget seems to be that federal dollars shouldn’t be used for local and state law enforcement; it particularly cites punishing cities that have trimmed or wanted to trim their police budgets in recent years. But defunding the COPS program to punish liberal San Francisco could diminish a host of successful initiatives, such as school-based policing in Arizona and Georgia, community outreach programs in Arkansas, efforts to keep youth out of the criminal justice system in Fresno, uncovering drug trafficking and manufacturing operations in Florida and Indiana, and a training program that established “police assisted referrals” for follow-up in domestic violence cases in Cleveland.

If you dig deeper into the RSC’s budget proposal, you’ll find that Republicans also target the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed with GOP votes in 2022, which has, among other things, helped keep guns out of the hands of people with felony convictions, and those with serious mental illness. The committee’s budget proposal considers it an affront to 2nd Amendment rights and claims it “will do nothing to reduce gun violence.”

I’m not sure how on one hand, you can talk about crime rates and “backing the blue” but on the other, defund programs that actually help hire and train police officers, ensure guns don’t fall into the hands of the wrong people and set up programs that establish trust between communities and cops. Quite frankly, the RSC budget proposal makes things much more dangerous for local law enforcement and for communities.

You cannot have it both ways. You can’t be pro-cop and pro-public safety while backing a proposal that undermines local law enforcement’s ability to police crime. The hypocrisy is staggering, albeit, hardly surprising.

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) proudly proclaimed: “I proudly support our Police Officers and Law and Order. Do you?”

Looking over the budget proposal you just backed, Nick, it’s a good question to ask — do you?