If Biden wants unity, he should back Tim Scott on police reform

But instead of taking Scott’s outstretched hand, Senate Democrats voted to filibuster his bill — using the very tool they now dismiss as a Jim Crow relic to stop a Black senator from moving forward with police reform. “I had some painful conversations,” Scott told me last summer, “with some friends who I respect on the other side of the aisle that basically said that they were shut down during [Democratic] conference meetings. One said that 12 people stood up and said, ‘We should vote on Tim Scott’s bill and, frankly, we should quit demonizing the bill.’” That would have been enough to overcome a filibuster. But in the end only three members of the Democratic caucus — Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Doug Jones (D-Ala.) — voted to advance Scott’s bill, killing any chance of passing police reform. Now the Chauvin verdict has created an opportunity for Biden to change that. During the campaign, Biden pledged that as president he would work “across the aisle to reach consensus.” Well, here is his chance. Just as President George W. Bush reached out to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) to pass bipartisan education reform, Biden should reach out to Scott to work with him on bipartisan police reform. He should insist that Senate Democrats bring the bill he negotiates with Scott — not a Democratic substitute — to the floor and pass it with a filibuster-proof bipartisan majority. He should call on House Democrats to support the compromise he reaches with Scott. And he should invite Scott and other Republicans to the White House, so he can sign the bill into law surrounded by leaders of both parties.