Former Attorney General Eric Holder said on Monday the Republican Party has “welded itself” to the gun lobby after continued inaction to pass what he called “reasonable gun safety measures” in Congress.
Holder, an appointee in former President Obama’s administration, said the tight political relationship must be broken, but that some politicians rarely face any consequences for opposing even generally popular gun legislation because of how their districts are drawn.
“This is a really graphic example of the harm, the concrete harm, of gerrymandering, where a politician can do something inconsistent with the desires of his or her constituents and not suffer any political consequences because they are in these gerrymandered-safe districts,” Holder said in an interview with Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart.
Holder’s comments come as Congress responds to a series of horrific mass shootings, including an attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 10 Black people and a gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The House is poised to pass an expansive gun control package; however, Senate negotiators are discussing a more limited package, seeking bipartisan support to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the 50-50 chamber.
Holder, who now serves as chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said that while the majority of the nation supports background checks and bans on assault weapons, that’s not reflected in the actions of elected representatives.
“We have got to hold our politicians accountable, but we also have to change our systems so that we actually can hold our politicians responsible,” Holder said.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) led talks on bipartisan legislation in 2013 that would have expanded background checks to most gun sales. The legislation, informally known as the Manchin-Toomey gun bill, failed by six votes, with five Democratic senators voting against the measure.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has now tapped Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to lead negotiations with Democrats on new legislation, though it’s unclear whether legislators can find the 10 votes necessary to pass legislation.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who is leading Democrats in the talks, has said that he hopes to reach a limited deal that can garner bipartisan support, focusing talks on so-called red flag laws, strengthening background checks and other provisions to protect schools and address mental health.
In an interview with Politico, Cornyn said “it will be embarrassing” if the Senate can’t agree on a legislative response after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
“It would feed the narrative that we can’t get things done in the public interest,” Cornyn said. “I don’t believe that narrative, I believe we can get a bipartisan deal done in the public interest.”
Some Republican donors in Texas have also joined the calls for congressional action, writing an open letter this week applauding Cornyn as “the right man” to lead the effort and voicing support for red flag laws, expanded background checks and increasing the legal purchase age for some firearms.
“Most law enforcement experts believe these measures would make a difference,” the donors wrote. “And recent polls of fellow conservatives suggest that there is strong support for such gun-safety measures.”
Holder placed the blame for gun violence squarely on United States gun policies, including the presence of and ease of access to acquiring guns in the country. On the debate over mental health, he noted that other countries also have people with mental health issues and yet lower rates of shootings.
In 2014, Holder said the lack of more gun control regulations was among the biggest failures of his tenure, which, especially after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, “weighs heavily” on his mind.
“It is time, it is beyond time, for the leaders of this nation, for Congress, for our state legislatures, to act and to put into place reasonable gun safety measures to stop this,” Holder said Monday.