Senate Democrats on Tuesday called Republican police reform legislation “woefully inadequate” and threatened to block debate on the measure, a move that elicited sharp partisan sniping amid ongoing nationwide protests over police brutality.
“This bill is not salvageable and we need bipartisan talks to get to a constructive starting point,” Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Cory Booker (N.J.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) wrote in a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
Unlike the Democratic bill, which the House is expected to pass on Thursday, the Senate GOP measure does not explicitly ban law enforcement techniques such as chokeholds and no-knock warrants.
“Suddenly, our Democratic colleagues are reportedly agonizing and debating whether to let the Senate have this discussion at all or whether to kill any chance of reform legislation before it can even taxi onto the runway,” McConnell said Tuesday.
But Democrats rejected that argument, accusing McConnell of trying to derail efforts at police reform by forcing them to swallow a GOP bill they view as a half-hearted measure that wouldn’t bring accountability to police departments nationwide.
