Democrats are about to make a big mistake on organized retail theft bill

This opinion piece argues that Senate Democrats face a credibility test over the Combating Organized Crime Act, given that just weeks earlier they had unanimously rejected roughly $70 billion in additional DHS/ICE/CBP funding, yet 144 House Democrats (with ten co-sponsors withdrawing support the night of the vote) still helped pass a bill that, despite appearing to be a straightforward anti-retail-theft measure, would create a centralized DHS intelligence hub with expanded access to corporate and law enforcement data. The author notes the bill has already sparked primary-election backlash, with several Democratic candidates attacking opponents who voted for it, and argues that while the legislation may have made sense when first introduced in 2022-2023, it's far more dangerous now given DHS's recent track record of pulling data from Medicaid, the IRS, Social Security, private data brokers, police departments and tech companies to fund surveillance tools that track citizens and protesters. Pointing to polling showing 70% of voters — including a GOP majority — prefer local, retailer-focused solutions over expanding DHS's surveillance powers, the piece urges Senate Democrats, including the bill's 13 Democratic co-sponsors, to reject the legislation and prove that their stated concerns about Homeland Security overreach are more than campaign talk.

Read more at: TheHill.com