DC Council Pulls Controversial Crime Bill Before Block by Senate, Biden

A Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department vehicle is pictured in the U.S. Capital on March 23, 2020. Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

Democratic D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson announced at a press conference on Monday that he was withdrawing a controversial criminal code bill that sought to reduce sentences for violent crimes committed in the Capital.

While the Council had passed the Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA), it was vetoed by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and, on Feb. 9, the House of Representatives introduced a measure to overturn it. The bill was scheduled to face a vote in the U.S. Senate that aimed to block it.