Back in mid-January, the D.C. Council overwhelmingly voted to override a veto from Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser on a sweeping, 450-page overhaul of the city’s criminal code that the council passed unanimously in November.

Bowser had rejected the bill, which “would eliminate most mandatory minimum sentences, reduce mandatory maximum penalties and allow jury trials for misdemeanors,” on grounds that in her view it did not make Washington, D.C., safer and would also further clog up an already stressed-to-the-max court system. She proposed amendments to the law in early February.

Around that same time, the Republican-controlled House voted to overturn the city council’s attempted overhaul of the D.C. criminal code, with 31 Democrats joining them.

And now, with Republicans on the Senate side poised to overturn the overhaul as well, thanks to help from at least one Democrat Senator (Joe Manchin) and possibly one or two more, Joe Biden is signaling he will not veto the GOP-backed resolution and will in fact sign it if it makes it to his desk:

President Biden told Senate Democrats that he will not veto a Republican-backed resolution that would block changes to the Washington, D.C., criminal code should it reach his desk, multiple senators said after a closed-door lunch with him on Thursday.

The president himself soon confirmed his position, which places him at odds with some within his own party. A source in the room for the meeting said the president brought up the matter unprompted.

“I support D.C. statehood and home-rule — but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings,” the president tweeted. “If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it.”

I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule – but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections – such as lowering penalties for carjackings.

If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 2, 2023

Though Biden was no doubt trying to dodge allegations that he and his fellow Democrats are soft on crime headed into the 2024 campaign season, he in effect handed his political opposition a gift, as his vow to support Republicans in their effort to rebuke the D.C. Council has been met with wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Usual Suspects. [Warning: language]

“Do not fall for the lies and the misinformation; this bill has been SIXTEEN YEARS in the making. If you truly supported #DCStatehood and #homerule, you would veto this in a heartbeat,” ACLU DC council Melissa Wasser tweeted.

“By ‘lowering penalties for carjacking’ he means reducing the maximum sentence from 40 YEARS to 24 years. ‘Tough on crime’ bulls**t strikes again,” whined Julian Castro senior advisor Sawyer Hackett.

“I’m very Disappointed that @Potus used his #BullyPulpit to bully #DC. The #USSenate’s Disapproval effort is based on a misunderstanding of the legislation. I hoped to correct that when the measure is actually debated. This inaccurate statement is unhelpful to that process,” D.C. shadow Senator Paul Strauss wrote.

In a nutshell, what this is is Biden supporting DC statehood right up until the point they do something that might embarrass his party in national elections. This isn’t about Biden seeing the light on D.C. statehood; it’s about him trying to save face come election time. Nothing more, nothing less.

But the eruptions this is already causing on the left may end up giving Biden more trouble than he bargained for. As always, stay tuned.

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