June 16, 2020
Embracing a new priority, (click here) President Donald Trump is set to announce executive actions on police procedures and Senate Republicans are preparing a package of policing changes as Republicans seek to respond to mass demonstrations over the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
It is a sudden shift for the Republican Party, one Democrats are watching warily as they advance broader police reform legislation in the US House of Representatives. The crush of activity shows how quickly the mass protests over police violence and racial prejudice are transforming politics in the United States...
The US Senate is beginning fact-finding. There is no legislation out of the US Senate yet. McConnell and Trump lie a lot.
...The Senate Judiciary Committee will gavel in Tuesday afternoon for an extensive hearing on "Police Use of Force and Community Relations," drawing testimony from the nation's leading civil rights and law enforcement leaders....
The US Senate will probably allow for higher fines instead of jailtime.
...While the emerging GOP package is not as extensive as sweeping Democratic proposals, which are headed for a House vote next week, it includes perhaps the most far-reaching proposed changes to policing procedures from Republicans, a party long aligned with a "law and order" approach.
Trump's executive order would include establishing a database that tracks police officers who garner complaints about excessive use of force in their records, according to two senior administration officials who briefed reporters in advance of Tuesday's announcement....
