President Donald Trump is reportedly lobbying Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to push ahead before the end of the year on a proposed criminal justice reform package.
The president, during a telephone call Tuesday, "did urge him to try to get this done in the lame duck,” The Hill reported, citing an unnamed senior White House official.
The White House met last week with Senate GOP leaders, when McConnell told Trump he didn’t think there’d be enough time to pass the measure before a new Congress is seated in January, The Hill has reported.
Meanwhile, the reform measure has been a bone of contention among some Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who is urging colleagues to oppose it, The Hill noted. But there’s also some top Senate Republicans — including Judiciary Committee head Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa — who’ve thrown their support behind the bill.
The measure would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent drug offenders and incentivize the use of anti-recidivism programs in federal prisons. Trump and his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner have been enthusiastic supporters.
Along with White House support, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has insisted there’d be enough bipartisan backing to pass the measure if McConnell allows a vote.
Grassley echoed that support in a tweet, saying “it’s the right thing to do” for the country.
According to The Hill, McConnell has said he’ll assess the support for the bill when the upper chamber returns to Washington after the Thanksgiving break.
He’s said he’ll also weigh it against other priorities like nominations, a farm bill and a government funding measure, The Hill reported.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.