Booker blasts Dems as ‘complicit’ with Trump in spat over police bills – Washington Examiner
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) publicly confronted fellow Democrats on the Senate floor over a package of bipartisan police-related bills. Booker blocked an effort led by Senator Catherine Cortez masto (D-NV) to pass seven law enforcement measures by unanimous consent, despite having supported them earlier in committee. Booker argued he had not been able to attend previous hearings to propose amendments and expressed concern that passing the bills as-is would enable President Trump’s agenda and misuse of funds. He accused Democrats of being “complicit” with Trump by allowing the bills to advance without proper scrutiny.
In response, Masto called Booker’s proposed amendments a “poison pill” intended to kill the bills, which varied in purpose and had been unanimously supported prior. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) criticized Booker for not raising his concerns earlier during committee reviews. Booker pushed back, citing personal reasons and urging a stronger, more principled stand against the bills in their current form.
Ultimately, Booker allowed only two of the seven bills to pass. The blocked bills aimed to address issues such as accidental exposure to risky substances, law enforcement staffing shortages, mental health resources, recruitment, retention, and online child exploitation. senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) supported the bills, emphasizing their role in strengthening law enforcement.
Republicans seized on the internal Democratic conflict, ridiculing Booker’s stance and highlighting division within the party ahead of future political contests.
Booker blasts Democrats as ‘complicit’ with Trump in heated spat over police bills
A rare and contentious showdown among Democrats played out in public view on the Senate floor Tuesday as an animated Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) sparred with colleagues over passing bipartisan bills to bolster local police forces.
Booker blocked an effort by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to pass a tranche of seven bipartisan law enforcement measures via unanimous consent. The measures cleared the Judiciary Committee earlier this year with unanimous support, including from Booker.
Booker said he was unable to attend previous hearings to amend the bills and that allowing them to pass on the floor so easily would enable President Donald Trump’s broader agenda and improper use of money appropriated by Congress.
“For us, as a body, to move forward right now is being complicit in what Donald Trump is doing. I say, ‘no,’” Booker said. “I say we stand. I say we fight. I say we reject this, and that in a bipartisan way, we demand an end to this kind of constitutionally unjust carving up of the resources we approve.”
Masto responded that the measures under consideration were unrelated to Booker’s objections. His proposed amendment to change how resources are distributed to law enforcement agencies was a “poison pill” intended to “kill all of these bills.” The Justice Department has altered grant programs and halted certain funds.
Booker, a leadership member as head of Democrats’ “strategic communications,” responded: “This, to me, is the problem with Democrats in America right now, is we’re willing to be complicit to Donald Trump, to let this pass through when we have all the leverage right now.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the third-ranked Senate Democrat ahead of fourth-ranked Booker, chided him for not previously offering changes. She said his objections to the bills have existed since “long before Donald Trump came into office.”
“We have committees for a reason, and we have hearings for a reason,” Klobuchar said. “You can’t do one thing on Police Week and not show up and not object and let these bills go through and then say another a few weeks later on the floor.”
Booker fired back that he did not “need lectures of the urgency of this,” citing a close personal friend who was a police officer and died by suicide.
Booker ultimately only allowed two of the seven provisions to pass. The pair that passed, the Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act and the Improving Police CARE Act, would expand death benefits to families of retired law enforcement officials who die as a result of their service and equip officers with trauma kits.
The five that Booker blocked were the Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act, the Retired Law Enforcement Officers Continuing Service Act, the Reauthorizing Support and Treatment for Officers in Crisis Act, the Strong Communities Act, and the PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act. They would address accidental exposure to dangerous substances, staffing shortages, mental health resources, recruitment and retention, and combating online child sexual exploitation.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who also pushed for the package to be approved, said the bills would “strengthen our law enforcement community to help keep our citizens safe.”
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Republicans quickly reveled in the intraparty squabbling among Democrats, invoking Booker’s “I am Spartacus” moment from 2018 during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.
“When Senator Spartacus is abandoning ship, you know it’s going down fast,” said Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the House GOP’s campaign arm.
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