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Trump Expected to Endorse Deal to Change Nation’s Sentencing Laws Trump Is Expected to Endorse Easing Some Mandatory Sentencing Laws
(35 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump was expected to lend his support to a substantial rewrite of the nation’s prison and sentencing laws at an event at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, but opponents of the proposal were making a last-ditch attempt to dissuade him from signing on.WASHINGTON — President Trump was expected to lend his support to a substantial rewrite of the nation’s prison and sentencing laws at an event at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, but opponents of the proposal were making a last-ditch attempt to dissuade him from signing on.
Senators from both parties who hashed out the legislative compromise, which would invest heavily in anti-recidivism programs and lower some mandatory minimum sentences, have staked the bill’s success on Mr. Trump. The president’s support could give political cover to Republicans wary of appearing to reduce some hard-line sentencing rules for drug and other offenses. With his endorsement, they believe they could assemble a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats in time to move legislation before the year’s end — and before the new, divided Congress is seated. Senators from both parties who hashed out the legislative compromise, which would invest heavily in anti-recidivism programs and lower some mandatory minimum sentences, have staked the bill’s success on Mr. Trump.
Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and the leading advocate of the criminal justice package within the White House, presented the tentative deal to Mr. Trump on Tuesday. Mr. Trump was initially noncommital but later offered a firmer yes, according to administration and congressional officials briefed on the meeting. He is expected to appear midafternoon on Wednesday to announce his support. The president’s support could give political cover to Republicans wary of appearing to reduce some hard-line sentencing rules for drug and other offenses. With his endorsement, they believe they could assemble a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats in time to move legislation before the year’s end — and before the new, divided Congress is seated.
The fact that the White House had not yet scheduled the announcement was an indication that the famously mercurial president could change his mind, people close to the process said. Senators and outside advocates for the changes were fretting about that possibility Wednesday morning. But even with Mr. Trump on board, proponents must compete with rapidly diminishing legislative time to move a complicated bill with broad implications for the nation’s criminal justice system. As of Wednesday morning, many senators had not yet even seen draft text of the bill, and many conservatives were thought to be firmly against it.
The tentative legislative package builds on a prison reform bill passed overwhelmingly by the House earlier this year by adding changes that would begin to unwind some of the tough-on-crime federal policies of the 1980s and 1990s — which have incarcerated African-Americans at much higher rates than white offenders. “We don’t have a whole lot of time left,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, told reporters on Wednesday. Mr. McConnell had previously pledged to take up the bill if it had at least 60 senators supporting it. But he added that given the date, he would also have to “see how it stacks up against our other priorities going into the end of our session.”
The changes include shortening mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent drug offenses and changing the “three strikes” penalty from life in prison to 25 years. They would give judges greater ability to use so-called safety valves to sidestep mandatory minimums in some cases. And the bill would eliminate the so-called stacking regulation that makes it a federal crime to possess a firearm while committing another crime, like a drug offense. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and the leading advocate of the criminal justice package within the White House, presented the tentative deal to Mr. Trump on Tuesday. Mr. Trump was initially noncommital but later offered a firmer yes, according to administration and congressional officials briefed on the meeting.
It would also extend retroactively a reduction in the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine signed into law in 2010, which could affect thousands of drug offenders serving lengthy sentences for crack-cocaine offenses that were dealt with far more harshly than the same crimes involving powder cocaine. That disparity hit black Americans hard while letting many white drug dealers off with lighter punishments. The White House announced midday on Wednesday that Mr. Trump would appear in the Roosevelt Room later in the afternoon to make a statement about the proposal. Still, senators and outside advocates of the changes were fretting about the possibility that the famously mercurial president could change his mind.
The changes have attracted a broad and unusual group of supporters, such as the billionaire conservative brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch and the American Civil Liberties Union. But powerful pockets of opposition remain among some law enforcement officials and conservative lawmakers like Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. The tentative legislative package, called the First Step Act, builds on a prison overhaul bill passed overwhelmingly by the House this year by adding changes that would begin to unwind some of the tough-on-crime federal policies of the 1980s and 1990s — which have incarcerated African-Americans at much higher rates than white offenders.
If Mr. Trump follows through, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is expected to quickly introduce the legislation and ramp up his lobbying efforts. Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat who has worked closely with Mr. Grassley on the issue, would be responsible for assuring Democrats that the bill’s sentencing changes were a deal worth accepting, despite some concessions from an earlier Obama-era effort. The changes include shortening mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent drug offenses and changing the “three strikes” penalty from life in prison to 25 years. They would give judges greater ability to use so-called safety valves to sidestep mandatory minimums in some cases. And the bill would clarify that the so-called stacking mechanism making it a federal crime to possess a firearm while committing another crime, like a drug offense, should apply only to individuals who have previously been convicted.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, previously told senators backing the plan that he would bring it to the floor for a vote if they had at least 60 senators supporting it. Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, a vocal advocate of such changes, committed to putting the compromise on the House floor in a lame-duck session that began Tuesday if Mr. Trump endorses it and it can clear the Senate. It would also extend retroactively a reduction in the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine signed into law in 2010, which could affect thousands of drug offenders serving lengthy sentences for crack-cocaine offenses, which were dealt with far more harshly than the same crimes involving powder cocaine. That disparity hit black Americans hard while letting many white drug dealers off with lighter punishments.
That may not be easy, especially with so little legislative time to move a complicated bill with broad implications for the nation’s criminal justice system. As of Wednesday morning, many senators had not yet even seen draft text of the bill. The changes have attracted a broad and unusual group of supporters, such as the billionaire conservative brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch and the American Civil Liberties Union, who view similar changes on the state level as successful models for federal policy. Advocates on the right see an opportunity to begin to cut into the high costs of a 2.2-million-person federal prison population. On the left, the current sentencing laws are thought to have unfairly incarcerated a generation of young men, particularly African-Americans, for drug and other nonviolent offenses.
The Fraternal Order of Police, the country’s largest police organization, said last Friday that it would support the bill, and the National Sheriffs’ Association appeared to have dropped some previous objections after exceptions were made to block certain fentanyl offenders from eligibility for “good-time credits” included in the prison overhaul portion of the bill.
But powerful pockets of opposition remain among some law enforcement officials and conservative lawmakers like Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who argue that sentencing changes like those proposed pose a risk to public safety. These opponents lost a powerful ally within the administration when Mr. Trump fired his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, last week. Mr. Sessions’s temporary replacement, Matthew G. Whitaker, has signaled that he is more open to the changes.
Mr. Trump himself is leery of appearing weak on crime, and he has been susceptible to arguments from opponents of a sentencing overhaul that endorsing one could arm his critics. Still, his son-in-law has pressed the issue for months, and some of the president’s advisers say they think the effort could help improve his anemic standing with African-American voters, even if only marginally.
If Mr. Trump follows through, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is expected to quickly introduce the legislation and ramp up his lobbying efforts. Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat who has worked closely with Mr. Grassley on the issue, would be responsible for assuring Democrats that the bill’s sentencing changes were a deal worth accepting, despite some concessions from an earlier Obama-era effort. Those concessions could cost support from liberal lawmakers, who want to hold out for a more expansive sentencing rewrite.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, a vocal advocate of such changes, committed to putting the compromise on the House floor in a lame-duck session that began on Tuesday if Mr. Trump endorses it and it can clear the Senate.