"The bill has been pulled back from Congress," council chair
Phil Mendelson said at a news conference, adding that he had
sent a letter to the U.S. Senate advising that the bill had been
withdrawn.
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives had
passed a measure to overturn the bill last week and the Senate
had been set to do the same this week.
Despite the city's withdrawal, top Democratic and Republican
Senate aides said the vote on the resolution would still take
place.
The bill proposes changes to Washington's criminal code,
including alterations to how certain crimes are defined and
sentencing guidelines.
The city has faced criticism after lowering penalties for
burglary, carjacking and other criminal activity. Police
statistics show that crime in the city has broadly dropped since
2018, but a spike in carjacking and a recent assault on a member
of Congress have heightened concerns about safety.
Biden said last week he would not veto Congress' move if the
Senate approved overturning the city bill.
"I don't support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward
over the mayor's objections, such as lowering penalties for
carjackings," Biden said on Twitter after a meeting with Senate
Democrats. "If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council
did, I'll sign it."
Congressional oversight of Washington, D.C., is written in to
the U.S. Constitution, and the city's 700,000 residents do not
have voting representation in Congress.
Tensions often flare between Republican lawmakers and the
heavily Democratic city.
Mendelson said he objected to Washington's government being used
by Congress as a tool for national politics.
"That is the history of the District of Columbia, is two
centuries of the district being used for national purposes,
which ... is very unfair and offensive."
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson in Washington; Editing by
Matthew Lewis)
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