PROSPECT FOR PASSING POLICING LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS REMAINS LOW

By CNN/StyleMagazine.com

The prospect for new bipartisan negotiations on Capitol Hill for legislation overhauling policing laws remains very low, despite calls from the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and others for congressional action in the wake of the brutal police beating and death of Tyre Nichols.

Previous talks broke down without a deal in September 2021 despite months of negotiations between Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat and then-Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat, now serving as mayor of Los Angeles. Now, with a divided Congress in place and a presidential election year on the horizon, the chances of getting a deal are slim.

Still, Scott and Booker both reiterated their commitment to reform in the wake of Nichols' death.

Scott, the only Black Senate Republican, spoke on the Senate floor Monday night about Nichols' death and called on his colleagues to agree on "simple legislation" regarding police reform.

"I take the issue of policing in America seriously," the South Carolina Republican said. "I want our body to see it not as an issue of Republicans versus Democrats, but as good people standing in the gap, elected to do a job that we all ran to do. Let's do our jobs. We can make a difference in this nation." The senator "never left the negotiating table and has encouraged his colleagues on the other of side of the aisle to join him in his continued efforts to increase safety in our communities," a spokesperson for Scott told CNN earlier Monday.

Booker said in a statement he will be renewing his legislative efforts "in the coming days."

But any effort would need bipartisan support and 60 votes to clear the Senate and would then have to pass a GOP-controlled House, an extremely difficult task and, at this point, an unlikely outcome.

"Although Senate action on policing reform has proven difficult, from the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to more targeted reforms, I will never stop working to build a broad coalition to enact the changes that will make our nation safer, stronger, and more just," Booker said in the statement.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, signaled over the weekend he would not support crafting any new laws.

"I don't know that there is any law that can stop that evil that we saw that is just, I mean, just difficult to watch," Jordan said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "What strikes me is a lack of respect for human life, so I don't know that any law, any training, any reform is going to change, you know, this man was handcuffed. They continued to beat him."

Key Senate Republicans have cast doubt that a fresh compromise can be found, even after Nichols' death.