Marco Rubio is a firm opponent of the bipartisan sentencing reform legislation pending in the Senate, following a review of the bill and multiple conversations with Republican proponents of the package.
“I just have too many concerns about the spike in violent crime in this country and what impact that law would have on it,” Rubio told the Washington Examiner. “I just can’t support it.”
The sentencing bill enjoys more support among Democrats than Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has played coy about whether he would allow the legislation to receive a vote on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, is one the lead negotiators of the legislation, however, giving the sentencing package a powerful advocate within GOP leadership. In the absence of a set threshold for Republican support, proponents of the bill hoped that Rubio’s backing would provide enough star power to sway McConnell.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the beneficiary of the Tea Party wave that swept Rubio into office, is another of the lead GOP negotiators; so is Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, with whom Rubio met two weeks ago.
“There are people who are supporting this proposal who I have a lot of respect for, and so I took the time to review it,” Rubio said. “I think, unfortunately, if you apply it to some of the cases I’ve asked prosecutors to look at, it could result in the release of dangerous people who, maybe, pled down to a lower charge but ultimately are very dangerous.”
Rubio’s opposition seemed likely when he chose not to attend a press conference unveiling revisions to the legislation that were designed to address such fears, but the would-be reformers maintained that their list of Republican supporters exceeded the roster of cosponsors. His opposition, in practical terms, is a victory for Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and other law-and-order Republicans who have waged an intra-party campaign against the sentencing bill.
“My best judgment after many, many years in law enforcement is that bottom on crime rates has been reached and the rise we’re beginning to see is part of a long-term trend, not an aberration, and the last thing we need to do is a major reduction in penalties,” Sessions told reporters Wednesday.
