Democratic leaders believe Joe Biden is prepared to veto the new D.C. bill: “I’d assume, but I wouldn’t go any further,” said Dick Durbin.
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And the shift is in part thanks to the stubborn crime problem in the city members call their part-time home: Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who was assaulted in her apartment building last week, was among the Democrats who supported rolling back the D.C. Council’s plan to make changes to some criminal penalties and scrap some mandatory minimum sentences.

It would only take two Senate defections for the measure to head to Biden’s desk, and Republicans feel they are on the cusp of getting them. In an interview, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) indicated interest in the proposal, though he has not made a firm decision.

“In West Virginia, they want the tougher codes,” he said. “I would be open to seeing what they want to roll back, and make sure it’s common sense. If it’s reasonable and common sense, yeah.”

Democrats can more easily block a second House-passed resolution that looked to stop a new city voting rights law that allows noncitizens to vote in local elections. That resolution is not eligible for expedited floor proceedings, and Democrats can bottle it up in committee and object to bringing it up on the floor, according to two people familiar with the floor schedule.

The crime proposal won’t come to the floor for several weeks. When it does, it may be one of the first tough votes this Congress for Senate Democrats — who control the Senate but cannot stop the disapproval resolution.

Several Democrats said they were not ready to comment on the crime proposal, including Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Angus King (I-Maine) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). Manchin, Kelly, King and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) did not co-sponsor a bill to grant D.C. statehood last Congress.

Some other Democrats said that, philosophically, Congress should not be chipping away at the city’s autonomy. Washington residents pay taxes but lack congressional representation and are subject to the legislative branch’s oversight on a plethora of matters. The last time Congress rolled back a D.C. law, it was to stop a building from exceeding height limits.

Since that 1991 episode, Congress has attached riders to larger pieces of legislation to block implementation of the city’s marijuana laws and restrict abortion funding, but this is the first time in a generation that the House and Senate may actively roll back policy passed by the city council. As an undecided Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) put it: “I’m generally not in favor of undoing things that a local government has done.”

“I don’t think Congress should be, you know, in the role of making them play Mother-May-I on everything,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a former mayor and governor. “My default on these is: I’m pretty strongly a home rule guy. When it gets closer we’ll take a look.”

“Because the D.C. bill reduces sentences for violent crime I will support efforts to overturn the D.C. law,” Rand Paul said.