The Senate is unlikely to take up a police reform bill until after the Independence Day recess, Republican leaders said on Monday, raising the prospect that it could be a month or longer before a measure heads to President Donald Trump’s desk.
A group of GOP senators, led by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), is expected to file legislation this week that would address policing practices in the aftermath of the May 25 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American, at the hands of law enforcement. But according to GOP leaders, any floor votes would likely have to wait until at least the week of July 20, after senators return from a two-week recess.
“I think it has enough support if we can get a process to move it, possibly,” Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said, referring to Scott’s bill. “But I would say at this moment probably unlikely in this work period — July, more likely.”
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), also a member of Republican leadership, concurred. He also said he does not think the two-week July 4 recess would be canceled.
“I’d be surprised if it happens before the July recess,” Blunt said in a brief interview.
Scott, for his part, said it would be a mistake to wait. He is urging Senate leaders to take swift action, on the heels of a “positive” phone call he had with Trump on Sunday night.
“Without the bill becoming law — whether it’s my bill or some other version of some other bill — then we’ve kind of failed the moment,” Scott said. “Us waiting a month before we vote is a bad decision. So I hope we are willing to take up legislation and just get on the record. If it fails, it fails.”
It remains unclear how the Senate will proceed, especially as GOP leaders grapple with whether to draw up another stimulus package to address the economic and public-health challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reiterated on Monday that he will make a decision in July “about whether to go forward with a rescue package.” Expanded unemployment benefits expire on July 31, likely necessitating congressional action to aid out-of-work Americans this summer.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of Scott’s working group, noted that the Senate also has to pass the annual defense policy bill, presenting lawmakers with a busy calendar ahead of the August recess.
“This is really not a moment where the country cares about partisanship on it. They want to just get it solved,” Lankford told reporters. “It’s hard to determine in a presidential election year because the all the politics get pretty noisy as everyone tries to dig in.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), another member of GOP leadership, said he was optimistic that both parties and both chambers could come to an agreement to address the racial injustices that have plagued the criminal justice system.
“I expect a bill to become law,” Barrasso said. “I can’t tell you the timing on it, but the goal is to get this done.”
House Democrats are scheduled to vote this week at the committee level on a sweeping police reform bill that has the backing of a wide swath of House and Senate Democrats. Republicans have expressed an openness to several provisions laid out in the proposal, but Scott’s plan — which is expected to be released on Wednesday — is expected to garner the backing of congressional Republicans in addition to the White House.
McConnell said last week that he had tapped Scott, the lone African-American Republican senator, to helm a police reform proposal to address “the obvious racial discrimination that we’ve seen on full display on our television screens over the last two weeks, and what is the appropriate response by the federal government.”
Public opinion has swung sharply in favor of reforming the nation’s policing practices in recent days, amid a nationwide uproar over the police killings of Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky.
Scott’s plan, which is still in the works, would establish new reporting requirements on the use of deadly force by police officers and would threaten to cut off federal funding for localities that fail to comply.
One of the outstanding issues includes whether to explicitly ban the use of chokeholds — a feature of the Democrat-authored proposal, but one that Republicans are hesitant to codify into law at the federal level. Scott’s plan would slash funding for police departments that do not ban the use of chokeholds.
In addition to Lankford, Scott’s working group includes GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.