Are either Loeffler or Purdue actual sitting members of the Senate right now? I think the answer is ‘no’ but I’m really not clear on it.
Dejin
1690
Would that limit her ability to gain office herself? I can’t imagine being Head of the DNC looks very good on a political resume unless you’re running for office in a very blue state, and I don’t think Georgia is there yet.
In most states you’d want to be more of a centrist in a general election and having Head of the DNC on your record is pretty much a big bright “I am highly partisan” sign.
There isn’t any national statewide office she can run for now — Biden will be President for 4 years, Warnock will be Senator for 2 and then the candidate for re-election, Ossoff will be Senator for 6.
She can run for Congress in 2022, but that would be an election in a very blue Congressional district, which she would surely win if that’s what she wants. She can run for Governor again in 2022. She nearly won last time and I wouldn’t bet against her, but does she want a state office rather than a national one?
The two guys she just helped win ran as partisan liberal Democrats. I don’t think it follows that Georgia voters are going to automatically reject partisan candidates.
Also, Dems win the Senate! Fuck me it took a while to happen, and it’s such a narrow majority that it will be genuinely hard to use it (Dems need to really understand reconciliation and how to make it work for them), but McConnell in the minority will be a huge boost for Biden’s chance to make a difference.
ShivaX
1693
Abrams is already seen as pretty far left by a lot of people, so it wouldn’t mean much.
The best place for her is heading the DNC and that’s likely best place for the country, not just her personally.
Matt_W
1694
Cloture on all nominations is only a bare majority now.
Noms other than Supreme Court: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43331.pdf (Thanks Harry!)
Supreme Court noms: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44819.pdf (Thanks Mitch!)
This, a thousand times over. McConnell not being in a position to control what come to the floor for a vote, all by itself, is a hugely great news… And the ability to appoint federal judges? Extremely important.
Matt_W
1696
Perry’s never been my favorite political analyst and this is pretty bad analysis. McConnell does stop bills that a majority of the Senate supports from going to the floor, but he doesn’t stop bills that have 60 votes from going to the floor. He doesn’t singlehandedly block Democratic priorities–he’s powerless without a majority caucus.
The big deal here isn’t for legislation, which will still require 60 votes and can be blocked procedurally the same way it was before (by failing to register unanimous consent and invoking a cloture requirement, which any Senator can do) it’s for nominations, which only require a bare majority.
Theoretically also the Dems could exercise the nuclear nuclear option and eliminate the filibuster, but I suspect that won’t happen.
Manchin has categorically said it won’t happen. And probably a handful of other Senators would not support ending the filibuster. I suppose the Republicans could change their mind with something like a debt ceiling / default crisis, but the chance seems remote.
Not necessarily legislation, but the ability to bring a vote to the floor and force Republicans to go on the record with a vote. When the House e.g. passes a big stimulus bill, the Republicans won’t be able to simply ignore it, they’ll have to cast a vote one way or the other. So either they help pass it, or you flog them with that vote in the 2022 campaign.
Also, where are my vote dumps? More vote counting please.
I wonder if the GOP actually learns anything from this and some sane members actually take char…
Hahahahhahahhaha… who am I kidding. You know they’re going to triple-down on the racism and photographs with Nazis.
Ephraim
1699
They should be starting back up in 40 minutes, at 8AM Eastern time. I can’t wait for the final count to be done, so the true wailing and gnashing of teeth on the R side can begin.
Matt_W
1700
Any Senator can submit a motion to proceed to a vote onto the floor. Bernie’s done exactly this over the last few days regarding the $2000 checks. From the Senate record for Jan 1:
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if cloture is invoked on the veto message on H.R. 6395, National Defense Authorization Act, that notwithstanding rule XXII, at 3 p.m. today—short period of time—3 p.m. today, Friday, January 1, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 645, H.R. 9051, to provide a $2,000 direct payment to the working class; that the bill be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the bill; and that if passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; further, that following the vote on H.R. 9051, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 644, S. 5085; that the bill be considered read a third time; that there be 1 hour of debate on the bill, equally divided and controlled by myself or my designee and Senator MCCONNELL or his designee; that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on passage of the bill; and that if passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all without intervening action or debate
And then, after some banter:
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I know Senator TOOMEY is delayed coming to the floor, and on his behalf, I will object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
Skipper
1701
I woke up to wonderful news. It appears the Cheeto In Chief just cost the Republicans the Senate, and Stacey Abrams directed another miracle.
It’s going to be a lovely day.
Cowards to the end. They’ll still be afraid of Shitgibbon after he’s dead and buried. Hell, it’ll be like that apocryphal story about Stalin. After Stalin died, the Politburo members saw the body and Beria started going off against him. And then the body made noise (gas escaping) and Beria panicked and immediately begged for forgiveness.
Matt, are you sure about this? It’s one thing to be able to submit such a motion, and another thing to get a vote. In the example you quote, it appears that no vote occurred on the $2,000 direct payments.
To my ear, it sounds as if the objection is just courtly Senate-speak for “In your dreams, Bernie.”
Yes, that’s an example of a call for a cloture vote by unanimous consent, which is all a minority Senator can do. I’m talking about bringing a bill to the floor for debate before a cloture vote, which the majority has the power to do, and having the actual debate, which the majority can force, and then having a roll call vote for cloture rather than a call for unanimous consent. That process puts all the Republicans on the record, not just one of them.
Matt_W
1705
Sure, that’s true. In the normal course of a bill’s life in the Senate it gets read 3 times into the record of the Senate before proceeding to a vote. Those three readings have to be on different days, unless there’s unanimous consent to proceed. After the second reading, the bill is normally sent to committee, unless a Senator objects and asks for unanimous consent to an immediate floor vote, as Bernie did. Then any other Senator can object to the request for UC and the motion is tabled.
I think that Bernie could still force a floor vote, but he won’t. It has no chance of passage and his slow walk was effective at communicating what he wanted to. He forced the Senate to be in session on New Year’s Day and got Republicans on record objecting to his $2000 check vote.
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20668.pdf
Over the Senate’s history, the majority leader has acquired responsibility for arranging the schedule of the Senate’s business. Although the presiding officer of the Senate is required to recognize any Senator seeking recognition, the long-standing practice of the Senate is to allow the majority leader (or minority leader) to have priority for recognition if seeking recognition at the same time as another Senator. Likewise, the majority leader (or a designee, such as the bill manager) is, by custom, the one who offers motions or makes unanimous consent requests concerning the floor agenda and scheduling, including the consideration of legislation or the time for the Senate to meet, recess, or adjourn.
In general, the standing rules of the Senate place a strong emphasis on the prerogatives of individual Senators, even at the expense of the majority. As a result, the Senate and its agenda are greatly influenced by the preferences of individual Senators. Senators may exercise their prerogatives at any time, but comity and compromise often lead Senators to relinquish the opportunity to exercise their prerogatives fully. In exchange they enable the Senate to conduct its business more efficiently and may receive corresponding concessions in relation to measures they favor.
(Emphasis added)
Matt_W
1706
Again, I’m fairly certain any Senator can do this. The majority leader mostly does this by consent and custom, not by the rules. I’m definitely willing to have my mind changed about this, but I can’t find anywhere that describes any special power of the majority leader, except that they lead the majority caucus and thus have more votes than the minority.
I don’t think so. In any event, there is a difference between forcing one Republican to object to a popular piece of legislation and putting all Republicans on the spot by forcing them to vote on it, and it will be far easier for a Dem-controlled Senate to do that latter than it was under McConnell. They can put the bill on the floor, send it to committee, have hearings on it, approve it in committee, put it back on the floor for an up or down cloture vote. None of that is possible with McConnell running the show. Otherwise it would have happened before now.
You’re doing this the wrong way. What is the special power a Senator has that allows him to force a vote on a bill over the objections of the majority? It isn’t about McConnell per se, it’s about the difference between being in the minority vs the majority.
Matt_W
1708
I actually concur that this is probably a big deal. Democrats having majorities in Senate committees mean that more Dem bills can get referred out of committee.
They ask the presiding officer to be recognized, are recognized, and then move to vote. What prevents that?
