Senate Republicans are crafting their own legislation to compete with House Democrats’ plan to overhaul policing across the country, though there are already some areas for potential common ground.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tasked Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only black GOP senator, to lead a team drafting the bill.
The Kentucky Republican explicitly acknowledged the GOP needs a “proposal to allow us to respond to the obvious racial discrimination that we’ve seen on full display on our television screens over the last two weeks.”
“We’re still wrestling with America’s original sin,” Mr. McConnell said. “We try to get better, but every now and then its perfectly clear we’re a long way from the finish line. I think the best way for Senate Republicans to go forward on this is to listen to one of our own whose had these experiences [as a Black American].”
Republican leadership didn’t offer specifics of what might be included in the package, but some GOP senators highlighted proposals they personally found interesting.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Republican, said he would be interested in federal sentencing guidelines, union reform or potentially even a federal chokehold ban.
“I think reform talk is smart. I think defunding police departments is ridiculous. We’re seeing people — policymakers and others — coming more to a reasonable place to discuss,” he told reporters.
Republicans, however, are concerned about going too far with federal overreach in an area they feel should be driven by local communities.
It’s unclear where President Trump would be on these types of proposals.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that Mr. Trump is balancing the state-versus-federal question and “currently reviewing proposals.”
However, in his public remarks, Mr. Trump has focused on denouncing the far-left push to abolish or defund police departments and ramped up his calls for “law and order.”
Two of his top cabinet officials — Attorney General William Barr and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf — dismissed the notion of systemic racism in policing.
“I think there is racism in the United States still, but I don’t think the law enforcement system is systemically racist,” Mr. Barr said Sunday. “I understand the distrust, however, of the African American community given the history in this country.”
The GOP’s push to consider changes to policing comes a day after House and Senate Democrats introduced their own sweeping overhaul package that would mandate anti-bias training, impose national use-of-force standards and make it easier to sue officers for misconduct in the line of duty.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, has repeatedly called on Mr. McConnell to commit to putting policing overhaul legislation to a vote by the beginning of July.
There’s no specific date for when Republicans will have this package ready, but Mr. McConnell said he hopes it will be in the “near future.”
