D.C. Council Wants to Withdraw Criminal Code Rewrite

The D.C. Council told Congress on Monday that it wanted to withdraw a criminal code rewrite that weakened penalties for carjacking and other crimes, an unprecedented attempt to save face after a growing list of Senate Democrats said they planned to support a Republican effort to rescind the city law.

Congressional leaders swiftly dismissed D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s attempt to withdraw the bill, saying there was no way to pull it back or stop a desire on Capitol Hill to rebuke city leaders.

The Senate is poised to vote on a disapproval resolution this week that would kill the local law, and the White House did not retreat from President Biden’s plan to sign the measure. (Excerpt from The Washington Times.)