The U.S. Senate voted 56 to 43 Tuesday to repeal a D.C. police discipline and accountability bill that the council approved last year. Six Democrats and two independents joined Republicans in voting for the disapproval resolution.

The House already passed a measure blocking the bill, also known as the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act. At the time, President Joe Biden vowed to veto any resolution blocking the bill, sponsored by Republicans, should it get to his desk.

The D.C. bill includes a variety of reforms, including banning chokeholds, limiting police use of tear gas, requiring that body camera footage from police shootings be public within five days, and creating a public database of police misconduct. Many of the reforms were already in effect for years via temporary legislation, which does not require approval from Congress.

Bills passed by the D.C. Council do have to be approved by Congress as D.C. is not a state. For most bills, the congressional review period within which a vote usually happens is 30 days – but for bills concerning criminal laws the review period is 60 days.

The Senate’s vote comes after that 60-day review period, which ended on May 8. The Senate Parliamentarian, the official advisor to the Senate on its rules and procedures, approved the vote anyway, ruling that it was within the Senate’s right.

The move raises concerns among supporters of D.C. home rule, the city’s right to govern local affairs, and questions remain over whether Tuesday’s vote is even legitimate. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said that the Senate vote has no legal effect. In a legal opinion Tuesday, Schwalb said that the bill is already law in D.C. because Congress did not pass a joint disapproval resolution during the 60-day review period.

“The effort by Senate Republicans to advance a disapproval resolution now, after the 60-day review period has expired, has no legal consequence for the validity of the law, and is nothing more than empty political grandstanding,” Schwalb said in a statement. He added that the bill was designed to “improve public safety and increase police effectiveness.”

D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), Chairwoman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, said in a statement that she was disappointed to see the Senate vote to overturn “duly enacted law.” Pinto said that Congress can promote public safety in the D.C. by increasing funding for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, confirming judges to D.C. courts, and passing gun control legislation.

“Overturning DC’s laws that are designed to make our residents safer does just the opposite,” Pinto wrote. “Strengthening police accountability means residents are more likely to trust the police – increasing the number of people who report crimes or serve as witnesses and decreasing the number of retaliatory incidents. I am confident that President Biden will recognize this reality and veto the disapproval measure.”

The vote is just the latest in a series of actions involving Congress meddling in the District’s local affairs, particularly with regard to its criminal laws. Earlier this year, the House and Senate voted to block a D.C. bill that revised the city’s criminal code. The move was backed by President Biden and it was the first congressional disapproval of a D.C. bill in three decades.

Tuesday’s Senate vote coincided with National Police Week, which Republicans alluded to as they called the police reform bill “anti-police and pro-criminal” and raised alarm about rising crime in the District.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) said that the District is making it harder to arrest criminals and that “our citizens’ safety is under constant threat.”

D.C. homicides are 9% higher than they were around this time last year, when 70 people were killed. At least 76 people have died by homicide so far this year. There were 203 homicides in all of 2022 — about half of what they were in the ’90s when homicides peaked at more than 400 a year.

At a House Oversight Committee Hearing on Tuesday, Republicans grilled Mayor Muriel Bowser and city officials, accusing Bowser of defunding the police and relaxing penalties for crimes. Bowser pushed back against those claims while acknowledging higher crime rates this year. The mayor proposed a bill that would make it easier to detain people accused of crimes, issue stronger penalties for gun possession and make it more difficult for people convicted of serious crimes to gain early release from prison.

This story has been updated with a statement by D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto.