Democratic senators gave their strongest indications on Monday, but they could prevent the GOP police reform bill from coming to the prosecution, a risky move that could prevent any review measure from being passed this year in Because of their party's concerns that the GOP bill is far too weak.
Democrats are clearly calling on the majority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, to make a clear commitment to vote on the amendments. But McConnell has so far said he would be willing to have an "open" speech process, but has not specified which amendments will be considered. Democrats are expected to continue discussing their strategy on Tuesday.
After a caucus call on Monday afternoon, Senate Democrats were optimistic about the way forward on GOP Senator Tim Scott's proposed bill, saying that much more needs to be changed and claiming that McConnell n had not made a commitment to authorize votes on the amendments on the ground. Many expected the bill to be blocked because Republicans need at least seven Democratic votes to break the obstruction.
Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, said that Scott's bill "does not do what we should do, that is, bring about honest police reform."
"It is time to speak before the bill speaks ... if you really want to do serious work on a serious issue, you should have discussions right now," she said.
Minority Senate whip Dick Durbin refused to discuss his party's strategy, but noted the Democrats' decision to block McConnell's $ 2,000 billion initial stimulus package in March. The two sides later reached an agreement that the Democrats reached after changes were made to the historic bailout.
"We have faced similar offers in the past - on the CARES law - and I think the best thing that has happened is that we did not accept his offer and demanded a bipartisan approach," said Durbin.
In addition, key groups have also started to urge opposition to the plan, including the influential NAACP, which urged senators to block the procedural vote Wednesday.
Also on Monday, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Benjamin Crump - the lawyer representing the family of George Floyd, the unarmed black man who was killed while in detention in Minneapolis when an officer knelt on the cou - announced their opposition to the Scott plan.
"The black community is tired of his words and is shocked that this $ 7 billion package can be considered legislation," said Crump.
Many Democrats would not say they would vote against the bill, even if they did not know how they would get a "yes" on Wednesday.
- New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, one of the main authors of the Democratic bill, would not say on Monday whether he would vote to move the Scott bill forward. "We have a lot of conversations," said Booker. "I think there are a lot of things going on right now that show that the process we are heading for is just not a good process ... The House followed a process. They went through the committee, they did a lot of things. It was a normal and regular ordering process. It's not that. We're having a lot of conversations about this now and we'll see where it ends. "
- Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut added: "There has been no McConnell awareness."
- Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, strongly criticized the Scott bill, called the Justice Act. "Where is justice in the law of justice?", He said. Asked if the Democrats could change it as they pleased, Menendez said, "If you have commitments in advance. There are none."
A Democrat in a difficult re-election, Senator Doug Jones of Alabama, said he was inclined to vote to proceed with the bill. But when asked about the lack of progress in discussions with McConnell, Jones said, "There never is. We will see where it goes."
Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia and a swing vote, said, "I have no idea (how I will vote.) Everything is still open."
