Democratic senators threaten to block 'threadbare' Republican police reform bill

Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker.
(Image credit: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)
Tim O'Donnell
By
published

In a Tuesday letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) signaled they're prepared to block the advancement of the GOP's police reform bill, championed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

The senators said they do not consider the "threadbare" bill "salvageable," dismissing the idea that simply amending it would lead to a satisfactory outcome. Instead, they suggested the package requires a near-complete overhaul, negotiated via bipartisan talks. One of the major hold-ups appears to be that Scott's bill "does not contain any mechanisms to hold law enforcement accountable in court for their misconduct." Democrats say the bill fails to address issues like the federal criminal mens rea standard, qualified immunity, and the lack of independent investigations into misconduct.

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Tim O'Donnell
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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