White House Struggles To Defend Biden’s D.C. Legislation Decision After Outrage From Democrats

The White House struggled to defend President Joe Biden’s decision to support a bill blocking Washington D.C. from overhauling its criminal code and voting rights laws.

Biden announced Thursday that he would sign a Republican bill blocking D.C. from passing two bills reforming the criminal code and allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. Congressional Democrats were outraged by the move. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre struggled to respond to the criticisms at Friday’s press briefing.

“[T]he President has been very clear we need to do more to reduce crime, to make communities safer, to save lives,” Jean-Pierre said. “[T]he way that we see this bill, it doesn’t actually reform policing practices … like the ones the president has put forward at the federal level [via Executive Order].” Jean-Pierre repeatedly touted Biden’s support for D.C. statehood and his own crime and policing policies.

The administration had previously opposed the House bill in a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP), claiming that it deprived the city of self-governance.