World
Senate votes to block 2nd DC crime law; Biden veto expected
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to overturn a District of Columbia law enacted last year to improve police accountability, the second time this year that Democrats have joined with Republicans to try and block the district’s crime regulations.
President Joe Biden is expected to veto the resolution, which the House passed last month. The White House said in a statement of policy that the president doesn’t support every provision of the D.C. law, which was passed in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. But Biden supports “commonsense police reforms” that are part of it, such as banning chokeholds, limiting use of deadly force, improving access to body cameras and requiring increased de-escalation training.
“Congress should respect the District of Columbia’s right to pass measures that improve public safety and public trust,” the White House said.
Still, eight Senate Democrats supported the GOP-led effort to overturn the law, as members of both parties have expressed concern about rising violent crime rates in cities nationwide. In D.C., homicides in the city had risen for four years straight before they dropped around 10% in 2022. The 2021 murder count of 227 was the highest since 2003.
“Congress must exert our constitutional authority to keep our nation’s capital safe,” said freshman Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, who sponsored the Senate effort.
In March, the Senate approved a separate GOP-led House bill to overturn changes in D.C.’s criminal code. Biden signed that resolution, ultimately blocking the D.C. law that would have redefined some crimes, changed criminal justice policies and reworked how sentences should be handed down after convictions. The scrapped criminal code also would have done away with mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes and would have reduced the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking and robbery.
Biden’s signature two months ago marked the first time in more than three decades that Congress has nullified the capital city’s laws through the disapproval process — and reflected a shift in the long-held Democratic position that the federal government should let D.C. govern itself.
On Tuesday, six Democrats voted for the Republican resolution to overturn the police accountability laws: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Montana Sen. Jon Tester, New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. Independent Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Angus King of Maine also supported the resolution.
District lawmakers said that even if Biden were to sign the resolution – which he has said he won’t — it wouldn’t be valid. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb issued an opinion that the time period for Congress to act had expired, meaning that the law has been enacted and cannot be overturned. Vance disagreed, arguing that there was Senate precedent for enactment after the deadline.
District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said after the vote that she was disappointed but pleased it would not ultimately overturn D.C. law.
Washington’s criminal code hasn’t been updated substantially since it was first drafted in 1901, and criminal justice experts say that Black people have been disproportionately affected by the criminal laws, similar to many other cities.
Ahead of the House vote in April, Norton called the resolution “ profoundly undemocratic” and “paternalistic.”
“I can only conclude that the Republican leadership believes that D.C. residents, a majority of whom are Black and Brown, are unworthy of governing themselves,” Norton said.
Justices at the United States Supreme Court have signalled scepticism towards a challenge brought by the video-sharing platform TikTok, as it seeks to overturn a law that would force the app’s sale or ban it by January 19.
Friday’s hearing is the latest in a legal saga that has pitted the US government against ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, in a battle over free speech and national security concerns.
The law in question was signed in April, declaring that ByteDance would face a deadline to sell its US shares or face a ban.
The bill had strong bipartisan support, with lawmakers citing fears that the Chinese-based ByteDance could collect user data and deliver it to the Chinese government. Outgoing US President Joe Biden ultimately signed it into law.
But ByteDance and TikTok users have challenged the law’s constitutionality, arguing that banning the app would limit their free speech rights.
During Friday’s oral arguments, the Supreme Court seemed swayed by the government’s position that the app enables China’s government to spy on Americans and carry out covert influence operations.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito also floated the possibility of issuing what is called an administrative stay that would put the law on hold temporarily while the court decides how to proceed.
The Supreme Court’s consideration of the case comes at a time of continued trade tensions between the US and China, the world’s two biggest economies.
President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to begin his second term a day after the ban kicks in, had promised to “save” the platform during his presidential campaign.
That marks a reversal from his first term in office, when he unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok.
In December, Trump called on the Supreme Court to put the law’s implementation on hold to give his administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case”.
Noel Francisco, a lawyer for TikTok and ByteDance, emphasised to the court that the law risked shuttering one of the most popular platforms in the US.
“This act should not stand,” Francisco said. He dismissed the fear “that Americans, even if fully informed, could be persuaded by Chinese misinformation” as a “decision that the First Amendment leaves to the people”.
Francisco asked the justices to, at minimum, put a temporary hold on the law, “which will allow you to carefully consider this momentous issue and, for the reasons explained by the president-elect, potentially moot the case”.
‘Weaponise TikTok’ to harm US
TikTok has about 170 million American users, about half the US population.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing for the Biden administration, said that Chinese control of TikTok poses a grave threat to US national security.
The immense amount of data the app could collect on users and their contacts could give China a powerful tool for harassment, recruitment and espionage, she explained.
China could then “could weaponise TikTok at any time to harm the United States”.
Prelogar added that the First Amendment does not bar Congress from taking steps to protect Americans and their data.
Several justices seemed receptive to those arguments during Friday’s hearing. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts pressed TikTok’s lawyers on the company’s Chinese ownership.
“Are we supposed to ignore the fact that the ultimate parent is, in fact, subject to doing intelligence work for the Chinese government?” Roberts asked.
“It seems to me that you’re ignoring the major concern here of Congress — which was Chinese manipulation of the content and acquisition and harvesting of the content.”
“Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok,” Roberts added, appearing to brush aside free speech arguments.
Left-leaning Justice Elena Kagan also suggested that April’s TikTok law “is only targeted at this foreign corporation, which doesn’t have First Amendment rights”.
TikTok, ByteDance and app users had appealed a lower court’s ruling that upheld the law and rejected their argument that it violates the US Constitution’s free speech protections under the First Amendment.
Seattle weather: Drier and cooler stretch ahead
Carlsbad too experienced, tough for Francis Parker in battle between two of San Diego’s best
Bucks beat Magic, Giannis Antetokounmpo drops 41 points
4 injured after Delta Air Lines flight aborted during takeoff in Atlanta
Security guard shot inside Aldi in Minneapolis, police say
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Trump Blames L.A. Wildfires on Newsom Using Familiar Tactics
'Deeply disgusted': GOP senator shreds Biden admin in scathing letter on new immigrant deportation shield
US Supreme Court critical of TikTok arguments against looming ban
Tiktok’s Final Appeal to the Supreme Court Didn’t Go Too Well
Drone Collision Grounds Firefighting Plane in Los Angeles
-
Business1 week agoThese are the top 7 issues facing the struggling restaurant industry in 2025
-
Culture1 week agoThe 25 worst losses in college football history, including Baylor’s 2024 entry at Colorado
-
Sports1 week agoThe top out-of-contract players available as free transfers: Kimmich, De Bruyne, Van Dijk…
-
Politics1 week agoNew Orleans attacker had 'remote detonator' for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says
-
Politics1 week agoCarter's judicial picks reshaped the federal bench across the country
-
Politics6 days agoWho Are the Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
-
Health5 days agoOzempic ‘microdosing’ is the new weight-loss trend: Should you try it?
-
World1 week agoIvory Coast says French troops to leave country after decades