Congressional action on police reform is expected to dominate the Sunday show circuit this weekend as Democrats and Republicans work on dueling bills to grapple with police use of force.
Democrats in both chambers unveiled sweeping legislation this week that would impose a series of reforms, including establishing a federal ban on chokeholds, eliminating the legal shield protecting police from lawsuits, mandating the use of body cameras nationwide, limiting federal transfers of military-style weapons to local police, banning military-style weapons for police and creating a national database disclosing the names of officers with patterns of abuse.
Republicans in both chambers are still hammering out bills of their own, with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the only black Republican in the upper chamber, leading the Senate effort and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) leading the House effort.
Scott’s legislation appears to be focused on improving data collection and creating incentives for police departments to curtail use of force by their officers. The South Carolina Republican will appear NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
House Republicans this week indicated that there is appetite in both parties to come to some kind of consensus even though the GOP was angered it was left out of the Democrats’ efforts to craft their bill.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused Democratic leadership of keeping Republicans “shut out of those discussions,” but feels “there’s a place where we can work together.”
“We will focus on three main areas: performance, transparency and accountability,” he said at a press conference on Thursday. “Eighty percent of law enforcement agencies expressed a need for increased training, but it’s work to achieve that while making our community safer transparency.”
Pressure has intensified on Congress to take action after a wave of civil unrest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis.
Below is the full lineup of Sunday show guests:
ABC’s “This Week” — Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson; Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.); Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for Georgia governor in 2018.
NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Scott; former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Scott; Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.); Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best; Robert Kaplan, president and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
CNN’s “State of the Union” — Lankford; White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow; Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
“Fox News Sunday” — Carson; Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.); Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” — McCarthy; Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.); Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.); Ric Grennell, former acting director of national intelligence; Kudlow
“America This Week With Eric Bolling” — Mark Lamont Hill, BET News; Dr. Wilfred Reilly, Kentucky State Univ Professor; Sidney Powell, Attorney for General Flynn; Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security; Lt. Col. Tony Schaefer; Austan Goolsbee, former Obama economic advisor; Mercedes Schlapp, senior Trump campaign advisor