Prospect for passing policing legislation in Congress remains low

By Jessica Dean, CNN

The prospect for new bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill for legislation overhauling policing laws remains very low, despite calls from the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and others for congressional action in the wake of the brutal police beating and death of Tyre Nichols.

Previous talks broke down without a deal in September 2021 despite months of negotiations between Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat and then-Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat, now serving as mayor of Los Angeles.

Now, with a divided Congress in place and a presidential election year on the horizon, the chances of getting a deal are slim.

Still, Scott and Booker both reiterated their commitment to reform in the wake of Nichols’ death.

“Senator Scott has been working on police funding and reform for the better part of the last decade,” a spokesperson for Scott told CNN. “He has never left the negotiating table and has encouraged his colleagues on the other of side of the aisle to join him in his continued efforts to increase safety in our communities.”

Booker said in a statement he will be renewing his legislative efforts “in the coming days.”

But any effort would need bipartisan support and 60 votes to clear the Senate and would then have to pass a GOP-controlled House, an extremely difficult task and at this point, unlikely, outcome.

“Although Senate action on policing reform has proven difficult, from the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to more targeted reforms, I will never stop working to build a broad coalition to enact the changes that will make our nation safer, stronger, and more just,” Booker said in the statement.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, signaled over the weekend he would not support crafting any new laws.

“I don’t know that there is any law that can stop that evil that we saw that is just, I mean, just difficult to watch,” Jordan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “What strikes me is a lack of respect for human life, so I don’t know that any law, any training, any reform is going to change, you know, this man was handcuffed. They continued to beat him.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.