Tim Scott, Cory Booker still hoping for bipartisan police reform despite slim prospects

Two of the Senate’s chief negotiators from both sides of the aisle on police reform are still committed to trying to move legislation through Congress, but hopes of a bill being approved in both chambers remains slim. 

Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., both said Monday in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols that they were still actively negotiating for police reform legislation. 

“Sen. Scott has been working on police funding and reform for the better part of the last decade,” a spokesperson for Scott told Fox News Digital. “He never left the negotiating table and has encouraged his colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join him in his continued efforts to increase safety in our communities.”

A spokesperson for Booker told Fox News that he “has spent the past several days engaged in conversations with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and is considering all legislative options to raise the levels of transparency, accountability and professionalism in American policing,” adding that he’s hopeful that his colleagues will “step up.”

The pair first introduced a set of reforms in 2021, along with then-Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., but those efforts were stalled in the Senate due to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.

LAW ENFORCEMENT GROUPS SKEPTICAL POLICE REFORM TALKS CAN SUCCEED AFTER TYRE NICHOLS’ DEATH

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
(Rod Lamkey / Pool via Reuters / File)

Scott at the time said that he was “deeply disappointed” that Democrat colleagues walked away from the negotiation table during discussions that had been going on for months.

“Crime will continue to increase while safety decreases, and more officers are going to walk away from the force because my negotiating partners walked away from the table,” he said in a statement.

Booker said at that time that “on basic fundamental issues of police reform, we have gotten no support from Republicans, and I hope people understand this.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
(AP Photo / Alex Brandon / File)

TYRE NICHOLS: JIM JORDAN SAYS ‘NO AMOUNT OF TRAINING’ COULD CHANGE WHAT 5 MEMPHIS COPS DID ON VIDEO

While Democrats now have a slight majority in the Senate, any measure would still have to contend with a Republican-led House.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, all but shunned the idea of police reforms in an interview on Sunday.

In appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Jordan was pressed on whether he supports renewed federal police reform.

“I don’t know if there’s any law that can stop that evil that we saw,” Jordan told host Chuck Todd.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said he was "deeply disappointed" when Democrat colleagues walked away from the negotiation table during discussions that had been going on for months.
(AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite / File)

SEN. TIM SCOTT ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BIPARTISAN POLICE REFORM NEGOTIATIONS FAILED

“What strikes me is just the lack of respect for human life. I don’t know that any law, any training, any reform is going to change … this man was handcuffed, they continued to beat him. And I was actually reminded, it’s hard to watch the whole thing, but as I watched it, I was reminded, we have a hearing probably two years ago when George Floyd’s brother came and testified before the Judiciary Committee, and it was one of those moments when fact and truth and emotion all came together.”

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“During the questioning portion of that hearing, he said, ‘Life is precious,’” Jordan recalled. “And it was one of those moments that grabbed everyone in that hearing, both parties. The fact that we saw that these individuals, these five individuals, did not have any respect for life. And again, I don’t think that these five guys represent the vast, vast majority of law enforcement. But I don’t think that there’s anything we can do to stop the type of evil we saw in that video.”

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Kelly Laco contributed to this report.