President calls for ‘peaceful protest’ while Memphis police will release video of Black motorist being beaten by five officers
Joe Biden pulled off several unlikely legislative victories in Congress over the past two years, but one goal that eluded him was reforming the police.
Elected months after the death of George Floyd in 2020, Biden rejected many activists’ calls to defund the police, but encouraged lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban officers from using chokeholds and better document police officers’ use of force. But despite lengthy negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, the bill went nowhere, forcing Biden to turn to less-impactful executive orders to accomplish his criminal justice priorities.
Instead, throughout the midterm election season, Republicans fell back on the “tough on crime” rhetoric that has supported America’s mass incarceration crisis for decades.
Progressive officials at the local level, including reformist district attorneys such as Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and Andrew Warren in Tampa, Florida, have seen themselves directly targeted as a result of this regression to the hard right.
The GOP is convening in California to elect a new chair of the Republican National Committee, with incumbent Ronna McDaniel facing challenges from Harmeet Dhillon and Mike Lindell. Some in the party, most notable the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, have said it’s time for change at the top of the GOP after it underperformed in two consecutive elections.
The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, will brief reporters at 2pm.
The House of Representatives has convened and will consider a bill to restrict the president’s ability to withdraw oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve unless there is an increase in the percentage of federal land from which oil and gas is being produced. Biden and the Democrats oppose the measure.