McConnell agrees to vote on Trump-backed criminal justice bill
By Jordain Carney - 12/11/18 10:30 AM EST
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that he will bring up a bipartisan criminal justice bill up for a vote, marking a significant win for supporters including President Trump.
"At the request of the president and following improvements to the legislation that has been secured by several members, the Senate will take up the recently revised criminal justice bill," McConnell said from the Senate floor.
Backers and advocates have been publicly and privately lobbying McConnell for months to bring the bill to the floor, arguing that they have at least 70 votes in support of the legislation. The bill, spearheaded by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), merges a House-passed prison reform bill aimed at reducing recidivism with four changes to sentencing laws.
McConnell's remarks are a dramatic turn around from last week, when he appeared to warn at a Wall Street Journal event that he did not have time to move the criminal justice bill this year, which he said could take up to 10 days.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/420750-mcconnell-agrees-to-vote-on-trump-backed-criminal-justice-bill
