President Joe Biden isn’t expected to veto Republican-sponsored resolutions that would block new District of Columbia laws that change how the nation’s capital votes and how the city prosecutes and punishes crime, according to people familiar with the matter.
City officials have spent nearly two decades trying to redo Washington’s criminal laws, including redefining crimes, changing criminal justice policies and reworking how sentences should be handed down after convictions. Voting law revisions would make it easier for noncitizens to vote in local races.
The Republican-controlled House decided to wade into city matters, claiming the district’s changes will contribute to already-rising crime in Washington — the number of murders in 2021 was the highest in nearly 20 years — and make it easier for some criminals to get out of prison or evade punishment all together.
The resolutions passed the House with some Democratic support and appear poised to clear Senate on a bipartisan basis as well, perhaps as early as next week.
