{"id":1031754,"date":"2024-05-15T19:26:18","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T19:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1031754"},"modified":"2024-05-23T19:54:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T19:54:49","slug":"new-mike-johnsons-desperate-dodge-on-the-maga-agenda-to-defund-law-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-mike-johnsons-desperate-dodge-on-the-maga-agenda-to-defund-law-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"NEW: Mike Johnson\u2019s Desperate Dodge on the MAGA Agenda To Defund Law Enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In response to MAGA Mike Johnson <\/em>attempting<\/em><\/a> to dodge questions on the Republican Study Committee’s proposal \u2013 a committee he is a member of \u2013 to defund law enforcement and make communities less safe, <\/em>DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMAGA Mike Johnson can\u2019t even give us a straight answer on the House GOP\u2019s agenda to defund law enforcement during National Police Week. Instead, Johnson is taking cues from his MAGA leader Donald Trump, who won\u2019t own up to his dangerous record of trying to defund law enforcement and continues to put violent insurrectionists over the brave officers who defended our democracy on January 6. After violent crime has fallen under President Biden, Johnson and Trump\u2019s MAGA agenda would make America less safe and put our communities at risk \u2013 and voters won\u2019t let them forget it when they cast their ballots in November. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAGA Mike Johnson \u2013 a <\/strong>member<\/strong><\/a> of the Republican Study Committee \u2013 embarrassingly tried to dodge accountability for the RSC’s unpopular proposal to defund law enforcement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporter<\/a>: \u201cThe Republican Study Committee budget cuts the main federal grant program that local departments use to hire officers. How is that not proposing to defund the police?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson: \u201cI haven’t looked into the details.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Los Angeles Times<\/a>: \u201cThe Republican Study Committee just released a new budget proposal for 2025 that actually cuts funding meant for local police departments. <\/strong>The proposal would defund the Community Oriented Policing Services program, or COPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you dig deeper into the RSC\u2019s budget proposal, you\u2019ll find that Republicans also target the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act<\/strong>, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican Study Committee FY 2025 Budget Proposal<\/a>: \u201cCOPS was created in the 1990s as a means to support state and local law enforcement agencies with expenses like salaries, court programs, and juvenile justice programs. \u2026 the RSC Budget would support a reduction to this program.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump wants to defund law enforcement \u2014 just like he tried to do every year in office as murder rates skyrocketed \u2014 and is pressuring his MAGA minions to do the same. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sahil Kapur, NBC News<\/a>: \u201cDonald Trump pressures Republicans to defund the (federal) police.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MSNBC<\/a>: \u201cTrump joins other Republicans in pushing to \u2018defund the FBI\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Allen, NBC News<\/a>: \u201cWhen Trump was president, he proposed slashing federal funding for local police forces.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wall Street Journal<\/a>: \u201cThe [Trump] administration\u2019s 2021 budget, like all its previous budgets, recommended eliminating the Community Relations Services and Community Oriented Policing Services and placing their functions under other parts of the department to \u2018improve efficiency.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vox<\/a>: \u201cDonald Trump is defunding the police\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Trump has repeatedly proposed cuts in federal funding for police, criticized landmark legislation that boosted financial support for police departments, and is currently involved in blocking legislation that would greatly reduce pressure on local governments to cut police funding. In layman\u2019s terms, he\u2019s been trying to defund the police.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press<\/a>: \u201cFBI: 2020 homicides up nearly 30%, largest 1-year jump ever\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a>: \u201cThe Council on Criminal Justice, a D.C.-based research group, found that homicides in 21 American cities were up 32% between March and October compared with 2019. And some analysts believe 2020 could record the largest-ever single-year increase in murders in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no surprise that Republicans are falling in line, repeatedly threatening to gut and abolish federal law enforcement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cSome lawmakers on the far right such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Paul Gosar of Arizona, have carried Trump\u2019s mantel in calling for a full defund of the FBI.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cIn January, an effort to pass a resolution expressing support for law enforcement agencies, which was meant to serve as a messaging tool, fell apart. The House GOP\u2019s behind-the-scenes disagreements reflect growing divisions inside the conference over whether to defund or restrict the Department of Justice and FBI.<\/strong> The contentious political issue is returning to center stage as CNN has learned that some House Republicans are actively sketching out ways to limit certain federal law enforcement programs through the appropriations process.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hill<\/a>: \u201cGOP Rep Chip Roy threatens to defund DOJ, DHS\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Gaetz<\/a>: \u201cI don\u2019t care if it takes every second of our time, and every ounce of our energy, we either get this government back on our side or we defund and get rid of, abolish the FBI, CDC, ATF, DOJ,<\/strong> every last one of them if they do not come to heel.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single Republican voted AGAINST the American Rescue Plan, which included hundreds of billions of dollars for state and local governments that could be used to boost local law enforcement. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC News<\/a>: \u201cPresident Joe Biden will announce Friday that $10 billion from the American Rescue Plan has been committed to police departments and public safety across the U.S. \u2026 These funds show what has been reported from cities through the end of 2021. The COVID-19 relief law included $350 billion for state and local governments to reduce violence.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House<\/a>: \u201cThe American Rescue Plan (ARP) has provided over $15 billion to prevent crime and promote public safety, including community violence intervention programs and crisis responders, while Bipartisan Safer Community Act \u2014the most significant gun safety legislation in the last 30 years\u2014provides $250 million in funding for community-based violence prevention initiatives, in addition to key investments for schools to expand mental health services and violence intervention programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump not only sides with violent January 6 insurrectionists over law enforcement \u2014 he\u2019s also promised to pardon them and calls them \u201chostages\u201d and \u201cpatriots.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIME<\/a>: \u201cTrump has sought to recast the insurrectionist riot as an act of patriotism. \u2018I call them the J-6 patriots,\u2019 Trump tells TIME. When asked whether he would consider pardoning every one of them, he says: \u2018Yes, absolutely.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u200bWashington Post<\/a>: \u200b\u200b\u201cFormer president Donald Trump on Thursday praised and embraced a woman convicted of defying police orders on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021. \u2026 Trump has steadily escalated his advocacy for people charged in the Capitol riot, including by pledging to pardon them if he returns to the White House, praising them as patriots, participating in a recording with Jan. 6 prisoners singing the national anthem,<\/strong> and playing it at his first rally of the 2024 campaign last month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hill<\/a>: \u201cTrump describes imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters as \u2018hostages\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cTrump vows pardons, government apology to Capitol rioters if elected\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC News<\/a>: \u201cFormer President Donald Trump promised Wednesday night that if he is elected he will pardon a \u2018large portion\u2019 of the people convicted of federal offenses for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump<\/a>: \u201cJanuary 6, it was the largest crowd I\u2019ve ever spoken to. And they were there proud, they were there with love in their heart. That was an unbelievable \u2014 and it was a beautiful day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business Insider<\/a>: \u201cThen-President Donald Trump didn\u2019t want to specifically call for the Justice Department to prosecute January 6 rioters<\/strong> or forcefully condemn those who stormed the Capitol as unrepresentative of the MAGA movement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC News<\/a>: \u201cTrump spoke at a fundraiser for Jan. 6 defendants\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crime rates declined in nearly every category last year under President Biden\u2019s watch.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC News<\/a>: \u201cThe U.S. crime rate is still dropping, FBI data shows\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew FBI data confirms previous indications that crime in the U.S. declined significantly in 2023, continuing a post-pandemic trend and belying widespread perceptions that crime is rising.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spectrum News<\/a>: \u201cCrime of almost every type decreased in the fourth quarter of 2023<\/strong>, according to new Federal Bureau of Investigation data released Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBS News<\/a>: \u201cFBI says homicide rates fell nationwide in 2023\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to MAGA Mike Johnson attempting to dodge questions on the Republican Study Committee’s proposal \u2013 a committee he is a member of \u2013 to defund law enforcement and make communities less safe, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:  \u201cMAGA Mike Johnson can\u2019t even give us a straight answer on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1031754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNEW: Mike Johnson\u2019s Desperate Dodge on the MAGA Agenda To Defund Law Enforcement - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-mike-johnsons-desperate-dodge-on-the-maga-agenda-to-defund-law-enforcement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-15T19:26:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-23T19:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-mike-johnsons-desperate-dodge-on-the-maga-agenda-to-defund-law-enforcement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/new-mike-johnsons-desperate-dodge-on-the-maga-agenda-to-defund-law-enforcement\/\",\"name\":\"NEW: Mike Johnson\u2019s Desperate Dodge on the MAGA Agenda To Defund Law Enforcement - 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