WASHINGTON | Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, visited Capitol Hill Tuesday as representatives from both parties pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to hold a vote on a rewrite of the nation’s criminal justice sentencing laws.
A rare bipartisan coalition — comprised of Trump, lawmakers from both parties, liberal advocacy groups and major GOP donors — is advocating passage of the criminal justice bill. The legislation would update 1980s and ’90s-era federal “tough on crime” laws by boosting rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners and giving judges more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders, particularly for drug offenses. Advocates say the changes would make the nation’s criminal justice system more fair, reduce overcrowding in federal prisons and save taxpayer dollars.
Senators announced a bipartisan agreement on the legislation earlier this month, but McConnell has not said whether he will hold a vote on the bill. The No. 2 Republican in the Senate, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, said Tuesday that GOP leaders are counting votes to see if the legislation has enough support to pass.
Pence and Kushner were expected to push McConnell on the legislation at a private luncheon for Republican senators. The package has been a top priority for Kushner.
The legislation has created a rare split between the White House and some of the most conservative Republican senators, who say the bill could reduce penalties for some serious drug offenders and let some violent offenders out of prison. Supporters of the measure, including many Republican lawmakers, say those concerns are overblown.
At a roundtable on the legislation in Mississippi on Monday, Trump said the bill would “enact reasonable sentencing reforms to ensure fairness while keeping dangerous criminals off the street,” adding that the legislation would revitalize the criminal justice system to be “tough on crime but also smart on crime.”
Trump endorsed the legislation this month, giving it a huge boost. He said the bill is proof that “true bipartisanship is possible.”
A bipartisan group of senators, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, has been pushing for action on criminal justice reforms since former President Barack Obama’s administration. But McConnell’s reluctance to hold a floor vote has come as some members of his caucus have strongly objected to the bill.