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If the Republican Study Committee hoped its budget plan would receive public attention, party officials have reason to be pleased. But as the congressional contingent — representing more than three-quarters of the House Republican Conference, including the entirety of the GOP leadership team — is learning, there is such a thing as bad publicity.
Democrats, from the White House to Capitol Hill, have already invested a fair amount of attention in highlighting the Republican Study Committee’s agenda and the degree to which it would undermine Social Security and Medicare, while simultaneously imposing new restrictions on abortion rights.
But the offensive doesn’t end there. Fox News reported:
The White House is blasting House Republicans and accusing them of taking steps to defund the police, while claiming President Biden will protect law enforcement and support crime-reducing programs. ... The White House is blasting the RSC for its proposal to reduce funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a program created in the 1990s as a means to support state and local law enforcement agencies with expenses like salaries, court programs, and juvenile justice programs.
As it turns out, this isn’t a matter of opinion: The White House simply pointed to the plain text of the Republican Study Committee’s written blueprint.
“Conservatives support our men and women [in] blue,” the Republicans' budget proposal reads, “but should question whether the government should involve itself in state and local law enforcement, even if it is only a matter of funding.”
A related White House document noted that the Republican Study Committee budget “would also gut the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” before adding, “Numerous House Republicans also support abolishing the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).”
Team Biden didn’t mention it, but I think the Republicans’ campaign against the Internal Revenue Service offers additional evidence of the party’s anti-law-enforcement plans.
For its part, the Republican Study Committee responded via social media, “Deceit knows no bounds in this [White House]. Republicans will always stand for law and order while fully supporting our men and women in blue.”
As a rhetorical matter, the message certainly sounded nice. But as is usually the case, it’s important to pay more attention to what Republicans do, not what they say.
And in terms of actions, the White House has reality on its side: The Republican Study Committee really does want to move federal funding away from Community Oriented Policing Services; a variety of GOP voices really have publicly endorsed defunding agencies such as the FBI and the ATF; and nearly all congressional Republicans really have made it a top priority to strip funding from the agency responsible for enforcing federal tax laws.
And did I mention that the party that “always stands for law and order” recently made a suspected felon its presidential nominee? Because that’s true, too.
What’s more, as important as all of these details are, there’s also a larger context to keep in mind: Republicans believe they have a political advantage when it comes to law enforcement. The White House, exploiting the RSC’s own budget plan, appears to believe that this is actually a vulnerability for Republicans, not a strength.