Joe Holleman | Post-Dispatch
Political correspondent/columnist
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Caught in the midst of a partisan U.S. Senate battle over shutting down the government, a bill that would provide relief to law enforcement has been blocked by Democrats.
U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, Missouri’s junior GOP senator and one of the bill’s co-sponsors, is not happy about it.
Saying they are “way more interested in grandstanding than governing,” Schmitt said Democrats are “holding up everything so as to appear they’re fighting (President Donald) Trump.”
Opposition to approving the police spending by unanimous consent has been led by Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a stance that created a rift in Booker’s party when he blocked the bills in July.
At the time, Booker said Democrats needed to push back on Trump policies. “It’s time for Democrats have a backbone. It’s time for us to fight. It’s time for us to draw lines,” he said.
Several Democratic senators, some of whom voted for the police bills in committee, said in July that denying police funding was not a good way to show opposition to Trump’s overall policies.
Two of the provisions relate to health: Providing equipment and training to protect officers against exposure to dangerous substances, such as fentanyl; and extending a program to provide mental health services, including suicide prevention.
Other provisions deal with training and education: Grants for police recruits to attend school if they agree to serve with agencies in their communities; and allowing state, local and tribal police to use grants for hiring retired federal officers to help in training.
A fifth provision would reauthorize and update the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.
Schmitt noted that the proposed legislation has nothing to do with the controversial move by Trump to deploy National Guard troops to several cities.
Now, the police bill has been halted again by Democrats who want to stop health-care spending reductions and force Republicans to extend Obamacare credits.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been at the forefront of the current partisan standoff, saying that spending needs to be addressed again by both Senate and House leaders, and the White House.
“But it takes two sides to have a negotiation,” Schumer said. “We need the Senate Republicans and House Republicans — and the president — to come to the table.”
Schmitt, however, labeled the Democrats’ moves as “a sad commentary on where the Democrats are right now.”
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Joe Holleman | Post-Dispatch
Political correspondent/columnist
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