Negotiations in the U.S. Congress on police reform have collapsed, Democratic Senator Cory Booker said on Wednesday, as President Joe Biden blamed Republicans for the failure.
Biden in a statement held out hope for eventually signing a comprehensive police reform bill into law and said he will look at developing further executive actions on the matter, Reuters reports.
“Regrettably, Senate Republicans rejected enacting modest reforms, which even [President Trump] had supported, while refusing to take action on key issues that many in law enforcement were willing to address,” Biden said.
Among the issues that lawmakers were discussing were changes to “qualified immunity” that protects police officers from some lawsuits.
Republican Senator Tim Scott in a statement accused Democrats of reverting to “a partisan approach to score political points.” Scott said the two sides had reached agreements banning chokeholds, limiting the transfer of military equipment to police departments, and increasing mental health resources.