After the death of George Floyd and other Blacks at the hands of police officers, people have been demanding changes in policing policy. But with the way things are going now, those changes are joining the call for change with other major issues like gun control and immigration.
What We Know:
- The death of George Floyd called for changes in policing policy, which Congress had the chance to act on but those efforts seem to be put on hold, despite being mobilized by traumatic events and having support from the public.
- And now, those changes are being placed on a back burner along with gun control and immigration issues. One reason is a lot of elected representatives can’t or won’t come to an agreement, especially when President Donald Trump is always opposing.
- The Senate and House chambers worked to draft legislation and as a result, the House Democratic proposal and the Senate Republican bill were created. There were common elements like a national database of use-of-force incidents by law enforcement and restrictions on police chokehold, but disagreements over the process surfaced and the lack of trust was evident between Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
- While McConnell believes that he pitched a fair and freewheeling floor debate and said that Democrats refused to believe that he was willing to negotiate over the final bill, Schumer and other Democrats opposed saying that McConnell wasn’t genuine and did not allow an open floor debate.
- Another evident reason that the policing debate is put on the back burner is because of the political calendar. The November elections are just over four months away and Democrats aren’t wanting to settle on a bill knowing their party may succeed in the elections.
- “Why cut a bad deal now when you could potentially be in the driver’s seat to write a real bill that effects real change in just a few months?” Matt House, a former Schumer aide, said.
Parties have been having difficulties in making progress with immigration and gun control issues mainly because of Trump’s reputation on Capitol Hill as an unreliable negotiating partner on major issues. He supported legislation regarding policing but didn’t do anything when the process hit a roadblock.
