WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans signaled on Tuesday that they were coalescing around a narrow set of law enforcement reforms as President Trump signed an executive order to encourage — but not mandate — that police departments alter their behavior, setting up an election-year clash with Democrats who are pushing for sweeping changes to address systemic racism in policing.
On Capitol Hill and at the White House, the moves by Republicans suggested that despite nationwide protests against police brutality and growing public sentiment for overhauling law enforcement, they were unwilling to accept the far-reaching federal measures that Democrats had proposed to make it easier to track and prosecute police misconduct, change standards for using force and institute anti-bias requirements across the country.
“The House version is going nowhere in the Senate,” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader. “It’s basically typical Democratic overreach to try to control everything in Washington.” Continue reading.