Poor messaging doomed D.C. crime-code rewrite, says council chairman

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on Tuesday said city lawmakers didn’t do a good enough job explaining a criminal-code overhaul that would weaken maximum penalties for some crimes and is on track to be rescinded by Congress as soon as Wednesday.

In an attempt to save face, Mr. Mendelson, a Democrat, tried on Monday to pull back the local law from Congress before the Senate votes to disapprove the law and President Biden signs the measure. 

Yet he defended the city’s decision to redo its criminal code, saying it needs an update and is aligned with penalties for things like carjacking in other states. He accused Republicans of dismissing those facts to demagogue against the liberal city.

“In hindsight, the council didn’t do a good job messaging,” Mr. Mendelson told Fox 5 in Washington. “You don’t have the comparison sheet that shows where we are on different crimes with other states or the comparison sheet that shows where this bill is in terms of what judges are actually doing.”

Congress has the constitutional power to block local laws from the D.C. Council and mayor during a mandatory review period.

The new House GOP majority flexed that power to rebuke the city for passing a crime overhaul that lessened some penalties amid widespread concerns about crime in the capital. About 30 House Democrats joined the effort, and several Senate Democrats said they would support the disapproval resolution on the floor.

Mr. Biden will sign the resolution to repeal the city law, a reminder that Democrats do not want to be viewed as soft on crime even though they tend to advocate for home rule and statehood for the District of Columbia.

The Senate is proceeding with its disapproval vote Wednesday, a roll call that Mr. Mendelson described as “hollow” because the city wants to withdraw the bill and rewrite it.

The council chairman criticized the resolution’s GOP sponsor, Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, for forging ahead with the resolution, saying his state should examine its own books before rebuking D.C.