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Feb. 2 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday to discuss police reform after the death of Tyre Nichols. Biden and Harris met with the lawmakers in the Oval Office of the White House a day after Harris attended the funeral for Nichols, who died last month after Memphis police officers beat and used stun guns on him as he called out for his mother.
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Lawmakers were expected to urge Biden to consider new executive action and other means for creating police reforms, sources told Bloomberg on Thursday.
However, some senators told NBC News that they fear lawmakers can reach an agreement that would pass through the divided Congress after House Republicans took control of the lower chamber last month.
Lawmakers have attempted to create federal police reforms since former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in 2020 -- sparking widespread protests.
On Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin said that he had opened a discussion with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to end qualified immunity for police officers.
Qualified immunity, which had been a contentious point in previously failed legislation, shields police officers from facing civil lawsuits.
After the meeting, the White House released a statement saying the discussion focused on important reforms that already have been put into place, including the banning of chokeholds, restricting the use of no-knock warrants, and requiring the use of body cameras for federal officers.
