The House of Representatives passed two bills on June 10 to repeal District of Columbia laws on policing and noncitizen voting.
The first would prohibit noncitizens from voting in local District of Columbia elections.
It passed with 266 members voting in favor of it, 148 voting against, and one member voting “present.”
The second would give Washington police officers collective bargaining rights and restore the statute of limitations for police disciplinary cases.
It passed with 235 votes in favor, 178 against, and one “present.”
Under the “home rule,” Congress has ultimate authority to review laws made by the District of Columbia’s local government.
The voting-related bill would repeal the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022, which allowed noncitizens to cast their ballots in local elections in the nation’s capital.
Introduced by Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), 56 Democrats voted for it. All Republicans voted for it.
“It’s common sense: Only American citizens should be able to vote in U.S. elections!” Pfluger wrote on X.
However, Rep. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said that the bill is misguided.
“Republicans introduced 26 bills or amendments to change local D.C. voting laws, including 14 to prohibit noncitizens from voting in D.C. or to repeal, nullify or prohibit the carrying out of the local D.C. law that allows residents who are not citizens to vote in local elections last Congress,” she said in a statement.
“Yet Republicans refuse to make the only election law change D.C. has requested: making D.C. a state so that it can hold elections for voting members of the House and Senate.”
Meanwhile, 30 Democrats voted in favor of the police bill. Four Republicans—Reps. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), and Chip Roy (R-Texas)—voted against it.
“The Metropolitan Police Department is facing a public safety crisis brought on by reckless policies that have stripped officers of basic protections and left the force dangerously understaffed,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), said in a statement.
“This legislation helps right that wrong by giving MPD the tools and support they need to recruit, retain, and protect.
“Congress has a duty to ensure our nation’s capital is safe, and today’s vote sends a clear message: we back the badge, and we refuse to let violent crime take over D.C.”
Norton said in a statement that the bill “overrides the longstanding wishes of the D.C. police department” as “for at least a quarter century, the D.C. police department had requested increased authority to discipline officers for misconduct.”
On June 11, the House will vote on another D.C.-related bill, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, which would eliminate the district’s status as a sanctuary city and therefore require it to comply with federal immigration officials when it comes to dealing with those in the United States illegally.
An exception is made for illegal immigrants who come forward as victims of, or witnesses to, criminal offenses or report someone to the Department of Homeland Security who is in the country illegally.
