Skip to content

Wednesday, May. 21, 2025

Has the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act stalled in Congress?

Winter Keefer, MinnPost
yes

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has remained stagnant despite calls for its passage.

First proposed by Democrats in the U.S. House, the police reform bill passed the House in both 2020 and 2021 but did not pass the U.S. Senate. Even when Democrats held power in the Senate in 2021, disagreements persisted around things like proposed changes to qualified immunity for police officers. 

Renewed calls for passage of the act came after the police killing of Sonya Massey last July. The late Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee had already reintroduced the bill in May of last year, days before the four-year mark of Floyd’s murder.  

But Lee died shortly thereafter and the bill didn’t move forward. Policing reforms weren’t prioritized by Congress in 2024 due to the Republican majority in the House. Republicans now control both the House and the Senate, likely quashing any chance for the bill to pass. 

See a full discussion of this at MinnPost

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

MinnPost is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces thoughtful, in-depth journalism about civic and cultural affairs impacting Minnesota. Through our reporting, we take readers beyond the headlines and deep into the issues that matter through our public-service journalism, empowering them to engage in the politics and policy-making shaping Minnesota’s future.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.