Representative Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) made a motion to suspend the rules and pass S. 546, the “Recruit and Retain Act,” which expands the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) federal grant program intended to support the recruitment efforts of law-enforcement agencies, including local police, throughout the country.
The House agreed to Hunt’s motion on May 14, 2024 by a vote of 370 to 18 (Roll Call 196). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution does not authorize Congress to support local law-enforcement agencies. Federal funding of local police departments and county sheriffs comes with strings attached, usually in the form of oversight, regulations, and other homogenized standards — none of which are constitutional.
