Scott: ‘Lot of work left’ in police reform talks

Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the lead Republican negotiator on police reform, on Thursday said the two sides are still far apart on a potential deal, raising the likelihood it won’t get done by the June deadline.

Asked if a tentative deal is possible this week, Scott indicated there’s no chance of any announcement soon. 

“No, no, no, no, no,” he said when asked whether a deal would be announced this week.

“We’ve got a lot of work left to do,” Scott said. 

NBC reported Tuesday that one of the biggest sticking points in the talks, whether to expose police officers accused of misconduct to civil liability, is “mostly settled.” 

But Scott has cautioned that there remain many other differences between his Justice Act and the Democrats’ George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

“For us to get where we need to go, there’s going to have to be paper. If we don’t have paper in the next week or two, I think [it] would be very hard for us to make a deadline that is June 28^th … [or] whatever the last week we’re here,” Scott told reporters Tuesday.

Scott said last month “it’s June or bust” for getting a deal on police reform.