So much for DC statehood — and so much for progressives’ ideas about radical police reform, too. A month ago, Joe Biden stood in the House of Representatives pushing policing “reform,” insisting that now was the time to “do something, do something.”

And yesterday Biden did something, all right. Biden told Senate Democrats that he would support a pair of Republican-driven resolutions that would cancel a DC city council criminal-justice reform measure if it reached his desk:

President Joe Biden told Senate Democrats on Thursday that he would not veto a GOP-backed bid to repeal changes to the D.C. criminal code, raising the stakes of an upcoming Senate vote on the proposal.

Biden’s plans not to veto, relayed by three attendees at the party meeting, leave Republicans on track to roll back the new D.C. law when the Senate takes up the House-passed measure as soon as next week. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) had already said he will support the disapproval bid, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) backed it on Thursday and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is on an extended leave for health issues, eliminating the margin for error in the 51-49 Senate.

And Biden’s lack of a veto threat might open the floodgates on the D.C. crime vote. Several Democrats predicted an overwhelming margin of support to roll back some of D.C.’s recent progressive crime measures.

Oh my. Four weeks ago — just before Biden’s SOTU speech — the White House declared itself opposed to the two resolutions. Biden and his team at the time made it into an issue of self-governance for DC and pledged to defend the city council’s independence:

For far too long, the more than 700,000 residents of Washington, D.C. have been deprived of full representation in the U.S. Congress. This taxation without representation and denial of self-governance is an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded. H.J. Res. 24 and H.J. Res. 26 are both clear examples of how the District of Columbia continues to be denied true self-governance and why it deserves statehood. While we work towards making Washington, D.C. the 51st state of our Union, Congress should respect the District of Columbia’s autonomy to govern its own local affairs.

What changed? Nothing changed in real life; DC’s crime crisis has been growing for years, especially during and after the pandemic. It was just as bad now as it was on February 6th, when Biden and his team prioritized the nonsensical push to make DC a state. Nothing changed electorally either; Republicans couldn’t capitalize on crime issues in 2022, and it seemed unlikely that this fight would translate into a national issue, or at least one that would sustain itself for the next 20 months until the next national election.

What actually changed was the assault on a House Democrat, Minnesota’s Angie Craig, by a perp who qualifies as a poster child for lax prosecution and incarceration. It drove home the risks that members of Congress face by working and living in DC:

“I got attacked by someone who the District of Columbia has not prosecuted fully over the course of almost a decade, over the course of 12 assaults before mine that morning”: @RepAngieCraig is calling for changes to prevent known criminals from targeting new victims. pic.twitter.com/Q391z6UBtA

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) February 14, 2023

As I wrote three weeks ago, Craig’s complaint was about the DC status quo — before the city council’s ideas of “reform” got implemented. Craig wants tougher policing, not the radical relaxation of both policing and prosecution the city council wants to implement. And when it’s their own butts on the line, it turns out that a number of Craig’s fellow Democrats feel the same way.

Now Biden counts himself among them, belatedly. Biden’s flip-flop on DC sovereignty isn’t exactly leading, but following — Democrats in both chambers had already made it clear that they were beginning to see the light, mainly out of self-interest. Had Biden vetoed the resolution, he could have ended up with even more egg on his face … especially when the problems got worse in the capital.

Now Biden has a big problem on his Left, Politico Playbook reports this morning. House Democrats — likely the Progressive Caucus — are calling this “amateur hour” with a colorful qualifier:

Some of the reaction from House Democrats who voted against the resolution and now feel betrayed was withering. “F****** AMATEUR HOUR,” one anonymous lawmaker told The Hill’s Al Weaver and Mychael Schnell.“HEADS SHOULD ROLL OVER AT THE WHITE HOUSE OVER THIS.”

Local reaction from D.C.’s elected officials was even harsher. “Defending those without power matters — past pledges of support for DC Statehood couldn’t ring more hollow,” said Councilmember CHARLES ALLEN, who crafted the crime bill. “It’s a reminder that until the nearly 700,000 residents of DC have full statehood & autonomy, we will be seen & treated as a colony, even by those who purport to support us.” (WAMU’s Martin Austermuhle has a good rundown of the condemnations of Biden from top local officials here.)

House Democrat leadership was only slightly more diplomatic:

“It’s disappointing for me and anybody who believes in home rule, honestly. I’m a former mayor of a city of 70,000, and I wouldn’t want the federal government coming in and telling me what city ordinances to pass. … So I think it’s disappointing in that context,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the No. 3 House Democrat, said.

One can certainly understand why Aguilar and the House Democrat leadership would get angry at this reversal. They went to bat for Biden on this bill on the basis of his earlier declaration and his State of the Union support for police “reform.” If Biden had signaled any openness to this plan, they could have arranged for a negotiated bipartisan resolution that would have provided them all some cover. Instead, this is a huge victory for Kevin McCarthy right out of the gate in this session of Congress — facing down a president with the Senate on his side, no less. It’s difficult to imagine Biden playing this any worse than he has over the last four weeks.

The failure and betrayal goes deeper than just Biden’s unsurprising incompetence, however. In one fell swoop, Biden has completely undermined the kind of radical reform progressives have proposed in policing and prosecutorial policy, and in many locales have already implemented. Biden’s switch makes that look even more radical going forward, which makes it even more politically unsustainable than it already was. On top of that, Biden has completely undercut the argument for DC statehood by demonstrating the necessity of congressional supervision over the nation’s capital. How can anyone argue for autonomy after this intervention, endorsed by leaders in both parties?