For all your leadership instability, a common refrain echoed almost daily by congressional Republicans is that we have a crime crisis in America and that Democrats (and the president) are to blame. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story, it's noteworthy that homicide rates across the country are plummeting. And yet, the rhetoric of House Republicans across the country, from New York to California, tells an entirely different story.
Representative Brandon Williams (R.N.Y.) tweeted Earlier this month, “I ran to defund the police and take on illegal bail reform.” Representative Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) aware: “More police funding and actual law enforcement? “A novel idea.” As did Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.): “We support our police and protect them from harmful legislation that undermines public safety.” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) lectured: “For families concerned about crime across the country, it's simple: defunding law enforcement means defunding public safety.” Representative Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) fiance: “I will always support blue and fight to keep our communities safe.” Representative Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) warned: “Calls to defund the police are dangerous and radical. “I will always support the authorities and vote to support the police.”
And while there is great geographic diversity among these House Republicans, what they all have in common is that they are part of the Republican Study Committee, one of the most powerful coalitions in Congress, whose members include 100% of the current Republican leadership and nearly 80% of the entire House Republican conference. Past RSC chairs include former Vice President Mike Pence, current Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, and current House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
Since its creation in 1973, it has represented the largest ideological block within the Republican conference, giving him enormous say in what is included in the legislation and what legislation ultimately comes up for a vote in the House of Representatives. When it comes to Republican politics in Congress, it is virtually impossible to advance to any leadership position without the blessing of the study committee. His seal of approval is a necessity for any bill hoping to advance through the legislative process.
Given its members' rhetoric on crime and public safety, you might be surprised to find that the Republican Study Committee just released a new budget proposal by 2025 that actually cuts funding to local police departments.
The proposal would defund the Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program. The program was created following the increase in crime in the 1990s. He has provided more than $20 billion to more than 13,000 different police departments across the country, resulting in the addition of more than 160,000 officers focused on the type of proactive and responsible law enforcement called community policing.
The idea behind the RSC budget appears to be that federal dollars should not be used for law enforcement at the local and state level; In particular, he cites punishment for cities that have cut or wanted to cut their police budgets in recent years. But defunding the COPS program to punish liberal San Francisco could diminish a number of successful initiativessuch as school policing in Arizona and Georgia, community outreach programs in Arkansas, efforts to keep youth out of the criminal justice system in Fresno, the uncovering of drug manufacturing and trafficking operations in Florida and Indiana, and a training program established by “police officers”. Assisted Referrals” for tracking domestic violence cases in Cleveland.
If you dig deeper into the RSC's budget proposal, you'll find that Republicans are also targeting Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed with Republican votes in 2022, which, among other things, has helped keep guns out of the hands of people with felony convictions and people with serious mental illness. The committee's budget proposal calls it an affront to Second Amendment rights and says it “will do nothing to reduce gun violence.”
I'm not sure how on the one hand you can talk about crime rates and “backing the blues” and on the other defund programs that actually help hire and train police officers, ensure guns don't fall into hands of the wrong people and establish programs that establish trust between communities and the police. Frankly, the RSC's budget proposal makes things much more dangerous for local authorities and communities.
You can't have it both ways. You cannot be pro-police and public safety while supporting a proposal that undermines the ability of local authorities to control crime. The hypocrisy is astonishing, although not surprising.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R.N.Y.) proudly proclaimed: “I am proud to support our police officers and law and order. You?”
Nick, going over the budget proposal you just endorsed, it's a good question: What about you?
Kurt Bardella is a contributing writer for Opinion and a contributor to NewsNation. @KurtBardella
