Senate DEMS just blocked police reform bill after Pelosi accused GOP of ‘getting away with murder of George Floyd’

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Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a Republican police reform bill on a procedural vote and refused to even debate it after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the GOP of “murdering” Minneapolis resident George Floyd.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chamber’s only black member who was placed in charge of drafting a bill by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), skewered Democrats and their leaders for their refusal to allow GOP members to participate in crafting legislation in the lower chamber, and for abandoning the reform legislation in his chamber.

“I offered Democrats the chance to offer AT LEAST 20 amendments. They walked out. #JUSTICEAct. Don’t let anyone convince you this was about debates or amendments. It’s about politics, and a refusal to find a solution,” Scott wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

“Because I realized…it wasn’t what was being offered today…it was who was offering it,” he added.

“House Democrats offered Republicans NO amendment opportunities. Senate Republicans offered Democrats at least 20,” he continued.

McConnell, for some reason, continues to cling to an archaic rule that calls for 60 votes in order to pass legislation, so — though Republicans control the upper chamber — Democrats have ample opportunities to block bills they don’t like. And they did.

“Disappointed to see  @SenateDems block even consideration of the JUSTICE Act. Instead of debating and negotiating the Dems decided to block any bill proposed by Republicans. The safety of our communities needs to be a top priority,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) tweeted Wednesday.

“Senate Democrats just blocked even debating police reform bill stopping their opportunity to improve the bill by amendment process & then decide if they support it Dems must wake up to the calls from the American ppl for action & stop putting party politics over progress!!” Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) added.

“Democrats just blocked the Senate from even considering police reform. They threatened to do this unless I let them short-circuit the amendment process and rewrite @SenatorTimScott’s bill behind closed doors. This issue deserved better than more do-nothing Democratic theatrics,” McConnell noted as well.

Meanwhile, Pelosi, the third in line to the presidency, continued to stoke racial and political tension on Tuesday after directly accusing Republicans in the Senate of murdering George Floyd and then refusing to apologize for making the divisive statement.

In an interview with CBS News Radio host Steven Portnoy Tuesday regarding congressional attempts to pass a police reform bill following recent incidents in Minneapolis, Louisville, Ky., and Atlanta, California Democrat Nancy Pelosi accused GOP members of the upper chamber of “trying to get away with murder, actually — the murder of George Floyd.”

“The press has given them so much play for this unsalvageable piece of legislation and then say, ‘well, can’t you compromise with that?’ No, it’s because it is no and we are yes,” Pelosi told Portnoy. “So when they admit that and have some suggestions that are worthy of consideration, but so far they were trying to get away with murder, actually. The murder of George Floyd.”

The comments drew outrage from Senate Republicans who immediately demanded an apology. But it doesn’t look as though one is forthcoming.

In a follow-up interview with NBC News, Pelosi was asked about the comments and whether she intended to amend for them.

“Absolutely, positively not,” she responded.

“The fact is, people say…I frankly think you in the press have given them far too much credit for a bill that does nothing,” Pelosi insisted. “You’re saying, ‘Well, you have your bill, they have theirs.’ Yeah, our bill does something, theirs does nothing.”

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