WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today released the following statement regarding the formal legal opinion the Office of Attorney General has issued concerning the US Senate’s upcoming vote on a disapproval resolution seeking to overturn DC’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act:
“The Home Rule Act is clear: to disapprove democratically enacted laws of the District of Columbia, both houses of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate – each must vote for disapproval within a statutorily prescribed time period. When the Congressional review period ends without bicameral disapproval, legislation passed by the Council becomes DC law. Congress established the deadlines for voting on disapproval resolutions, and voting to disapprove of legislation after the deadline is pointless and has no legal effect.
DC’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act—which is designed to improve public safety and increase police effectiveness—is already law in the District of Columbia. The effort by Senate Republicans to advance a disapproval resolution now, after the 60-day review period has expired, has no legal consequence for the validity of the law, and is nothing more than empty political grandstanding. The Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 is the law of the District of Columbia.”
AG’s Legal Opinion on Passage of Disapproval Resolutions After Congressional Review Period
At the request of the Council of the District of Columbia, AG Schwalb and the Office of Attorney General issued a formal legal opinion addressing whether a disapproval resolution passed after the end of the congressional review period would have any legal impact on the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act, concluding that such an out-of-time disapproval vote by the Senate would have no legal impact on the validity of the law. Under the Home Rule Act, when the Council of the District of Columbia passes legislation, the Chairman must transmit the legislation to both houses of Congress for review before it takes effect. Depending on the type of legislation, Congress has either 30 days or 60 days to review. Unless both houses of Congress pass a joint disapproval resolution during the applicable review period, the law goes into effect. In this case, the 60-day review period for DC’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act lapsed on April 20, 2023, and because the Senate did not vote on or pass a disapproval resolution before that date, the law has gone into effect.
The AG’s full legal opinion is available here.