WASHINGTON — In the days since an upbeat meeting with President Joe Biden at a party retreat in Baltimore, House Democrats have been expressing frustration with the White House over the president’s decision to sign legislation to overturn a rewrite of the local criminal code in Washington, D.C.
The Office of Management and Budget has issued a Statement of Administration Policy expressing opposition to the disapproval measure ahead of a House vote on Feb. 9. The final vote of 250-173 included 42 “yeas” from Democrats, with one coming from Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, who had been assaulted in her Washington apartment building that morning. Still, the 162 “no” votes from Democrats were enough to sustain a Biden veto, were one to materialize.
But the White House says that while the administration urged Congress not to pass the measure, there was no veto threat, real or implied. And on Friday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was making clear that without explicit veto threats, no one should read administration policy statements as making any such threat.
