House Republicans Caught Red-Handed Actively Attempting to Defund Law Enforcement

Los Angeles Times : Republicans "can't be pro-cop and pro-public safety while backing a proposal that undermines local law enforcement's ability to police crime."

House Republicans are hard at work manufacturing a false image of themselves as standing up for public safety. Yet, in Congress, they have plotted a budget so riddled with law enforcement funding cuts that it would cripple police programs and departments nationwide.

The LA Times broke down the 2025 budget proposal from the Republican Study Committee - a group that represents nearly 80% of the House Republican Conference.

The RSC's budget specifically identifies and promotes a plan to "reduce funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)." The COPS program has received essential funding for decades to improve community policing, fight the addiction crisis, and support efforts to prevent violence in schools - including over $216.8 million just last year to hire 1,730 new police officers across the country. House Republicans also included slashes to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, critical public safety legislation that limits access to guns for individuals with felony convictions and serious mental illnesses.

For House Republicans, projecting a tough-on-crime facade is the number one priority, taking concrete actions to protect communities is merely an afterthought.

DCCC Spokesperson Viet Shelton:
"Talk is cheap. Voters can see right through House Republicans' double-talk for what it is: a dangerous agenda that will cripple local law enforcement and make our communities less safe."

Los Angeles Times: Opinion: Republicans' 2025 agenda tells you how they really feel about crime and cops
Kurt Bardella | April 30, 2024

• For all their leadership instability, one common refrain echoed almost daily by congressional Republicans is that we have a crime crisis in America and Democrats (and the president) are to blame. Not to let the facts get in the way of a good story, it's worth noting that homicide rates across the country are plummeting. And yet, the rhetoric from House Republicans across the country from New York to California tells a completely different story.

• Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) tweeted earlier this month, "I ran on re-funding the police and standing up to lawless bail-reform." Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) posted: "More police funding and actually enforcing the law? A novel idea." As did Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.): "We stand by our police and protect them from damaging legislation that undermines public safety." Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) lectured: "For families worried about crime across the country, it's simple - defunding law enforcement means defunding public safety." Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) pledged: "I will always back the blue and fight to keep our communities safe." Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) warned: "Calls to defund the police are dangerous and radical. I will always stand with law enforcement 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 a part of the Republican Study Committee, one of the most powerful coalitions in Congress whose membership includes 100% of the current Republican leadership and nearly 80% of the entire House GOP conference.

• Given its members' rhetoric about crime and public safety, it might surprise you to discover that the Republican Study Committee just released a new budget proposal for 2025 that actually cuts funding meant for local police departments.

• The proposal would defund the Community Oriented Policing Services program, or COPS. The program was created in the wake of the rise in crime in the 1990s. It has provided more than $20 billion to more than 13,000 different police departments nationwide, resulting in the addition of more than 160,000 officers focused on the kind of accountable, proactive law enforcement that's called community policing.

• If you dig deeper into the RSC's budget proposal, you'll find that Republicans also target the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed with GOP votes in 2022, which has, among other things, helped keep guns out of the hands of people with felony convictions, and those with serious mental illness.

• Quite frankly, the RSC budget proposal makes things much more dangerous for local law enforcement and for communities.

• You cannot have it both ways. You can't be pro-cop and pro-public safety while backing a proposal that undermines local law enforcement's ability to police crime. The hypocrisy is staggering, albeit, hardly surprising.

• Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) proudly proclaimed: "I proudly support our Police Officers and Law and Order. Do you?"

• Looking over the budget proposal you just backed, Nick, it's a good question to ask - do you?