President Joe Biden promised to sign a law preventing the city of Washington D.C. from overhauling its crime and voting laws.

The Washington, D.C., city council passed a bill to overhaul the city’s criminal code, and another one allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. But the House of Representatives passed two resolutions blocking those bills from becoming law, and the Senate is expected to vote on them as early as next week. Biden said Thursday that he would sign the bills if passed.

According to NPR, Biden reportedly told Senate Democrats during a closed-door meeting Thursday that he would not veto the bills, which are expected to pass with bipartisan support. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed the decision to reporters after the meeting.

Biden confirmed the news himself on Twitter. “I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule – but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections – such as lowering penalties for carjackings,” Biden tweeted from the official Presidential Twitter account. “If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did – I’ll sign it.”

The Senate is expected to vote on the bills as soon as next week. Two Democrats, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Bob Casey (D-PA), have already expressed support for the bills. With Casey’s Pennsylvania colleague, John Fetterman, out for an extended period of time with health problems, the Democrats do not seem to have the votes to stop the resolutions from passing, POLITICO reported, adding that with Biden signaling his support for the measures, they could earn more Democratic votes by the time they reach the floor. The bills require a simple majority to pass, and cannot be filibustered.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution to block the D.C. legislation allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections from becoming law on February 9. Some 42 Democrats joined Republicans, and the vote passed 260-162. Another resolution blocking the city from overhauling its criminal code passed 250-173, with the support of 31 Democrats.

D.C. city officials passed the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act on its first reading last year, which Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser allowed to pass without her signature, as she refused to veto the legislation. Washington, D.C., city councilmember Charles Allen introduced the bill in October 2020, arguing that it aligns with the chamber’s values and history of expanding voting rights.

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The other bill, the one overhauling D.C.’s century-old criminal code, would not take effect until October 2025. While proponents argue the overhaul updates and improves an outdated system, critics warn it would embolden wrongdoers by reducing the penalties for certain crimes. Among other changes, the bill would reduce maximum penalties for violent crimes such as carjacking, and expand the rights to jury trials for misdemeanor offenses.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed the criminal code changes, but the D.C. Council voted to override the veto. Bowser then proposed targeted alterations to the revised code, including restoring maximum penalties for gun crimes and carjackings, as well as delaying its implementation to 2027, per NBC Washington.

Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, Congress is allowed to overrule legislation passed by the D.C. city council before it becomes law.

Brandon Drey and Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.

A jury has found Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney on trial for the murder of his wife and son, guilty.

The decision comes after just a few hours of deliberation and a six-week trial where more than 70 witnesses testified. Murdaugh has maintained his innocence, suggesting his son Paul was the main target for the murders due to his involvement in a 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.

The guilty verdict followed two distinct closing arguments from the defense and the prosecution. The prosecution argued that Murdaugh was the only person with the means, motive, and opportunity to kill his wife and son, while the defense claimed the sloppy investigation misses potential other suspects.

“This defendant … has fooled everyone, everyone, everyone who thought they were close to him,” lead prosecutor Creighton Waters told jurors, according to CNN. “Everyone who thought they knew who he was, he’s fooled them all. He fooled Maggie and Paul, too, and they paid for it with their lives. Don’t let him fool you, too.”

“We believe that we’ve shown conclusively that [South Carolina Law Enforcement Division] failed miserably in investigating this case,” defense attorney Jim Griffin countered, according to CNN. “And had they done a competent job, Alex would have been excluded from that circle [of suspects] a year ago or two years ago.”

Murdaugh spent nearly two days testifying in his own defense at his trial, and immediately admitted to lying for years about his whereabouts on the day his wife and son were murdered.

The prosecution had already argued that Murdaugh lied about not going to the dog kennels on the day his wife and son were murdered. Prosecutor Creighton Waters previously pointed to cell phone evidence taken from Paul’s phone less than five minutes before he was killed. Paul had filmed one of the dogs to send to a friend, and prosecutors allege Murdaugh’s voice can be heard in the background of the recording. Murdaugh has said he wasn’t at the kennels that night. Prosecutors allege that Murdaugh murdered his wife and son around 8:49 p.m., just a few minutes after the video was taken.

On Thursday, when Murdaugh took the stand, his defense attorneys asked him if he had lied to police about his whereabouts on the night his family was murdered, and Murdaugh admitted to lying.

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“I lied about being down there, and I’m so sorry that I did,” Murdaugh said, according to People Magazine.

Murdaugh maintained that he did not murder his wife and son, whom he referred to by nicknames “Mags” and “Paul Paul.” The disgraced South Carolina attorney claimed during his testimony that his alleged drug addiction made him “paranoid,” which caused him to lie.

“As my addiction evolved over time I would get in these situations or circumstances where I would get paranoid,” Murdaugh testified. “I’m sorry I lied.”

Murdaugh also testified that his son Paul was receiving threats over his involvement in a 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Paul was indicted on one count of boating under the influence causing death and two counts of causing significant bodily injury.

“Paul got the most vile threats — the stuff that was on social media — you couldn’t believe it,” Murdaugh testified, according to People. “You couldn’t believe it. It was so over the top, truthfully we didn’t think anything about it, it was so crazy. People talking about what he was going to get … We disregarded it. It was so over the top.”

The verdict is not the end of Murdaugh’s troubles, as the murder charge was simply the last in a long and bizarre story regarding the once-prominent South Carolina attorney. After Murdaugh’s wife and son were murdered, police began looking into Murdaugh’s life and discovered numerous disturbing details.

Murdaugh was accused of stealing $8.5 million from people who had hired him as their attorney. He is also alleged to have orchestrated his own murder by hiring a friend to kill him so that his surviving son, Buster, could receive a $10 million life insurance payout. Murdaugh allegedly lied to police about the incident, claiming a stranger shot him on the side of the road. This all took place just days after Murdaugh’s firm discovered he had stolen money from clients.

Further, state police began looking into the hit-and-run death of a 19-year-old in July 2015 as a possible connection to Murdaugh, but no additional details have been released. Authorities also exhumed the body of Murdaugh’s former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, who was said to have died after a fall in 2018. Murdaugh allegedly collected more than $4 million from his home insurer by claiming wrongful death and saying he was working for Satterfield’s family, but the family didn’t receive any of the money, according to prosecutors.

In June 2022, Murdaugh was also indicted for alleged money laundering and creating a “distribution network” for painkillers, the Associated Press reported at the time. Murdaugh allegedly ran the drug ring with the same friend he allegedly hired to kill him.