Washington DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson Monday sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris–in her capacity as president of the US Senate–stating that he is withdrawing a bill that would change DC’s criminal laws.

Mendelson discussed the letter during a press conference Monday. Mendelson said, “It’s clear that Congress is intending to override that legislation and so my letter, just as I transmit bills for their review, withdraws from consideration the review.” As a result of the withdrawal of the bill from the Senate, neither chamber of Congress is able continue action on the bill. The clock is stopped. Mendelson explained how the bill would have to be resubmitted to both chambers of Congress to for them to take up the issue again. As a result, the council is able “to work on the measure in light of congressional comments and re-transmit” the bill again later.

Mendelson’s decision to withdraw the bill comes after President Joe Biden stated, in a March 2 tweet,”If the Senate votes to overturn what DC Council did–I’ll sign it.” The bill received initially received pushback from Republicans in Congress, but was quickly joined by Democrats, including Biden. Under the US Constitution, Congress has the ability to oversee and overturn legislation from DC, but it is rare for them to do so. An aide to Senate leadership revealed that the Senate is still planning to vote on the DC bill. They told CNN, “Not only does the statute not allow for a withdrawal of a transmission, but at this point the Senate Republican privileged motion will be acting on the House disapproval resolution, rather than the DC Council’s transmission to the Senate.”

Mendelson commented on Congress’s actions, saying, “It’s quite clear to me that the headwinds that have prevailed in Congress are about the politics of next year’s election, not what’s in this bill.”

The bill would lower the maximum penalties and eliminate the minimum sentence on some crimes, like carjacking and robbery. However, in the letter attached to the bill by DC Criminal Code Reform Commission (CCRC), the Executive Director described the Revised Criminal Code Act as a way to “clarity, consistency, completeness, organization, and proportionality in the District’s criminal sentencing.” 

While the bill initially passed the DC Council at the end of 2022, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter to Mendelson informing him that she would veto the bill because it did not make DC any safer. The DC Council overwhelmingly voted to override Bowser’s veto shortly thereafter. In the time since, Congress took up the DC bill for review.