'We should not defund': Democrats press Pelosi for vote on police funding
Nearly 20 House Democrats are urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a vote on bipartisan legislation to boost funding for police as crime surges ahead of the midterms.
WASHINGTON — In an effort to address rising crime rates, 19 mostly moderate House Democrats are urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a vote soon on bipartisan legislation that would increase funding for police departments across the country.
“As national crime rates increase, including homicides, car jackings, and assaults, now is the time to support local law enforcement through passage of bipartisan, bicameral commonsense legislation,” the Democrats wrote Friday in a letter to Pelosi, D-Calif., that was first shared with NBC News.
The letter is the latest sign that Democrats, fighting to preserve their fragile majority this fall, are concerned about rising crime and the “defund the police” messaging from progressives that contributed to the party’s loss of 13 House seats in the 2020 election.