Fourteen House Democrats joined Republicans on Wednesday in voting for a resolution to block Washington, D.C.’s police accountability bill, despite caucus leadership recommending a “no” vote and President Biden issuing a veto threat.
The resolution cleared the chamber in a 229-189 vote.
The legislation seeks to stop D.C.’s police accountability bill — which the city council passed in December — from taking effect. That measure would permanently enact some reforms that D.C. temporarily implemented after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
The policing bill, among other measures, curbs police searches based on receiving consent instead of a warrant, limits use of non-lethal weapons when trying to mitigate riots, adds civilians to disciplinary review boards, and cements a requirement that videos captured on body cameras are released publicly in the cases of police-involved shootings.
Fourteen Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the disapproval resolution: Reps. Nikki Budzinski (Ill.), Angie Craig (Minn.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Jared Golden (Maine), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Susie Lee (Nevada), Wiley Nickel (N.C.), Jimmy Panetta (Calif.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Pat Ryan (N.Y.), Kim Schrier (Wash.) and Eric Sorensen (Ill.).
The Democrats supported the measure despite House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) recommending a “no” vote and the Biden administration saying the president would veto the legislation should it land on his desk.
In a Statement of Administration Policy, the Office of Management and Budget said that while Biden “does not support every provision” of the D.C. police accountability bill, “he will not support congressional Republicans’ efforts to overturn commonsense police reforms such as: banning chokeholds; limiting use of force and deadly force; improving access to body-worn camera recordings; and requiring officer training on de-escalation and use of force.”
“If the President were presented with H.J. Res. 42, he would veto it,” the statement adds.
Wednesday’s disapproval resolution was the latest D.C.-related legislation that split House Democrats. In February, the chamber approved a resolution that sought to block the city’s revised criminal code. The Biden administration initially said it was opposed to the legislation — but did not issue a veto threat — leading 173 Democrats to vote “no” and 31 to support it.
Shortly before the Senate vote, however, Biden said he would not veto the measure, sparking frustration among some House Democrats. The Senate ultimately approved the measure and Biden signed it into law.