Two of the country’s largest groups representing police officers said Tuesday that “defunding the police” was not proposed in the policing reform negotiations that fell apart in Congress last week, in an apparent pushback against the lead Republican negotiator’s claim.

       The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police said in a joint statement Tuesday that they were “disappointed that Senate negotiators could not reach agreement on police reform legislation” and remain “committed to enacting carefully balanced and thoughtful legislation” on the topic.

       “Despite some media reports, at no point did any legislative draft propose ‘defunding the police,’” the groups said in their statement. “In fact, the legislation specifically provided additional funding to assist law enforcement agencies in training, agency accreditation, and data collection initiatives. It is our joint belief that the provisions under discussion would have strengthened the law enforcement profession and helped improve the state of community police engagement without compromising management and officers’ rights, authorities, and legal protections.”

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       Democrats last week ended months of negotiations that began after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and subsequent nationwide protests. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), the party’s lead negotiators, said they had compromised repeatedly but Republicans sought more concessions.

       The Democrats’ final offer omitted any changes to the legal doctrine of qualified immunity, or Section 242 of the Civil Rights Act, that would have caused officers to face expanded civil or criminal accountability — taking a major sticking point for Republicans off the table completely.

       After the talks fell apart without a deal, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the lead Republican negotiator, blamed Democrats, claiming that their push to “defund” law enforcement made it impossible to agree on legislation. President Biden, Democratic congressional leaders, and Bass and Booker have rejected the idea of slashing police departments’ budgets.

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       Scott’s office did not immediately respond Tuesday to the statement by the police groups.

       Republicans and Democrats had been eager to finalize bipartisan legislation last year after a national outcry over the killings of Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia focused national attention on law enforcement’s deteriorating relationship with Black communities and the broader issue of racism in the United States.

       But interest in the issue waned among Republicans after President Donald Trump ran for reelection on a “law-and-order” platform that focused on White voters, and congressional Republicans continued to portray Democrats as soft on crime and eager to gut police departments.

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       In a tweet Monday, Scott urged Democrats to “come back to the negotiating table.” His office also pointed to a Wall Street Journal editorial arguing that policing reform failed because Democrats “sought to nationalize policing standards, dropping new burdens on local departments but denying the resources to make it work.”

       “The biggest fight was over funding,” the editorial states. “Mr. Booker says Democrats don’t support defunding police, which progressive mayors and activists demanded after nationwide protests in 2020. Yet their proposal to restrict existing federal grants would risk a reduction in police resources.”