Senate rejects proposed limits on transfers of military-grade weapons, gear to local police

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The Senate on Tuesday rejected a bipartisan proposal to curtail the transfer of military-grade weapons and gear to local police departments.

Senators voted 51-49 on the proposal, falling short of the 60 votes needed to pass.

Spearheaded by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposed limiting tracked combat vehicles, armed drones, grenade launchers and tear gas to local police departments across the U.S.

U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, left, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., attend a news conference on defunding military projects to pay for the border wall on Capitol Hill. (Reuters)

“Our amendment will permanently prohibit the transfer of lethal military weapons to police departments,” Schatz said before the vote, adding: “Our communities are not battlefields. The American people are not enemy combatants.”

The amendment had received bipartisan support, including from GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well as Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.

Under the NDAA, the “1033 Program” allows for excess Department of Defense property to be transferred to law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

Former President Barack Obama scaled back the program in 2015 amid scrutiny over the police’s use of military-grade equipment in responding to protests in Ferguson, Mo. President Trump reversed the policy in 2017.

Police’s use of military-grade equipment has come under renewed focus in the wake of nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd while in police custody on May 25.

The Senate instead passed a narrower amendment to the NDAA in a 90-10 vote. The amendment from Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., limits only the transfer of bayonets, grenades, weaponized tracked combat vehicles and weaponized drones.

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Ahead of the vote, Inhofe described his amendment as the “sensible alternative” to Schatz’s amendment.

“Defunding & de-equipping our law enforcement agencies won’t fix anything,” Inhofe tweeted. “Making sure they have the right equipment & the right training will.”