House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries does not feel President Joe Biden pulled the rug out from under House Democrats' feet by agreeing to veto the Washington, D.C. crime bill should it pass the Senate.
"We have a House, we have a Senate, and we have a White House," Jeffries said on CNN's State of the Union."We have to see what happens in the United States Senate next week. Depending on what the Senate does, the president will have to respond one way or the other.
""I haven't had an opportunity to talk to the White House yet about the president's views, so I'm not going to characterize his position one way or the other until we've had a chance to talk about that issue," Jeffries continued. Biden announced on Friday that he supports D.C. self-governance but does not support the lax policies coming out of the new bill passed by the D.C. Council that would overhaul Washington's century-old criminal code and reduce the penalties for some crimes. "I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule — but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward," Biden tweeted."If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it." Jeffries said he personally voted"no" against vetoing the bill, as he supports local government controlling local matters. "That's a principle that I've supported from the moment that I arrived in Washington, D.C. It's one of the reasons why I believe in DC statehood, and in this particular case, I voted to affirm local rule." When asked about whether House Democrats are frustrated with Biden's decision, Jeffries said there are different types of conversations being held surrounding the bill. "There are public conversations, and there are private conversations," Jeffries said."I do know is that Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has said she looks forward to talking to President Biden about his position they may agree to disagree. And at the end of the day, that's fine." "We are incredibly unified about the way forward," Jeffries continued on House Democrats."When we talk about putting people over politics, that is not just a slogan — It's a way of life for us. It's what we've done."The Senate GOP is hoping to force a vote next week on the updated code, which would lessen the punishment for homicide, robberies, and carjackings. Biden's decision to veto the bill could alleviate attacks against himself and Democrats for being soft on crime, a trend that is spreading across major cities, resulting in some Democratic mayors, such as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, losing office and putting others, such as New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, in danger of losing their position.
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