House Democrats Pass Police Spending Bills Despite Party Divisions

The House passed four police-funding bills on Thursday after extended negotiations between centrist and progressive Democrats. Should the bills pass the Senate, which many outlets doubt is likely, they would provide funding and grants to police departments for recruitment, training, investigative resources, mental health services, and more.

Outlets across the spectrum painted the police bills as a political move by House Democrats ahead of an uncertain midterm election season. Republican candidates in 2020 elections found success depicting Democratic opponents as soft on crime and supportive of the police defunding movements that gained national attention during Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. These bills are seen as pushing back against this narrative by demonstrating a pro-police sentiment in the Democratic Party.

The issue of police reform has been a key division within the Democratic Party, causing the vote to be previously delayed out of fear that the progressive wing of the party would block the bills’ passing. Centrist Democrats have worked to distance themselves from the progressives on the matter of policing, as many face tough Republican challengers in November elections who are using progressive policies, proposals, and talking points against them.

The passing of the spending bills were covered across the spectrum following the vote, with the bulk of outlets framing the bills as both a political move by Democrats and unlikely to survive a deadlocked Senate.