When the House voted to prohibit contentious changes to the city’s criminal code on Thursday, Congress is getting closer to repealing a D.C. statute for the first time since 1991. Mayor Muriel Bowser may be okay with that as well.
Why it’s important Ultimately, 31 Democrats backed the Republican-led push to undo the changes to the criminal code that lessen some of the maximum sentences for severe crimes. At a time when the District was under increased Republican pressure, it was a remarkable bipartisan participation in local affairs.
The mystery: While openly stating her opposition to congressional intervention in the District, Bowser’s staff did not attempt to influence lawmakers to refrain from interfering.That’s because Bowser has been a vocal critic of the reforms approved by the D.C. Council, unsuccessfully vetoing the legislation last month and recently proposing changes to sections that expand jury trials for misdemeanors and reduce sentences.
“It is not up to the mayor to lobby for something she doesn’t believe in,” a source familiar with Bowser’s thinking said.
State of play: Republicans are increasingly using the topic of crime around Capitol Hill and across the city as reasoning to intervene in D.C.
Democrats who joined Republicans included Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, who hours before the vote was attacked inside the elevator of her upscale apartment building in Northeast, according to her office and a D.C. police report.
A man punched her in the face and grabbed her neck, the report said, and she escaped after throwing her cup of coffee at him. The attack is not believed to be politically motivated. D.C. police on Thursday night arrested Kendrick Hamlin, 26, and charged him with simple assault.
