Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellWhat would MLK say about Trump and the Republican Party? The pressure on Biden’s minimum wage faces an uphill battle as Republican Party senators struggle to eliminate Trump from the party MORE (R-Ky.) And minority leader in the Senate Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerCowboys for Trump founder arrested after Capitol riot Graham pressures Schumer to vote to reject the impeachment article on Biden and the new Congress must protect Americans from service closures. (DN.Y.) failed to reach an agreement on Tuesday over the organization of a 50-50 Senate, as a fight over obstruction threatens to drag the negotiations for days.
The two Senate leaders met to discuss how to divide power in an equally divided Senate. According to Schumer, they talked about “a number of issues”, but did not reach an agreement.
The negotiations hindered the fight against legislative obstruction of 60 votes, which can drag the negotiations for several days.
McConnell is pressing to use the power-sharing agreement to help protect the obstruction amid requests from progressives to avoid the obstacle in order to help approve Democratic legislative priorities.
Doug Andres, a McConnell spokesman, said that during Tuesday’s meeting, the Republican Party leader “expressed his long-standing view that the Senate’s crucial, long-standing and bipartisan rules regarding legislative obstruction remain intact. , specifically during the division of power for the next two years. “
“Discussions on all aspects of the power-sharing agreement will continue in the coming days,” said Andres.
But McConnell’s decision to put obstruction in the discussion on how to organize a Senate division drew strong resistance from outside groups, which urged Democrats to reject the Republican leader’s maneuver.
“Senator McConnell knows that obstruction is the best weapon he has to control the minority Senate and prevent Democrats from keeping their promises to voters, which is why he is so desperate to keep it,” said Fix Our Senate , a coalition of external groups that support the cancellation of the obstruction.
Democrats currently have no votes on the bench to prevent obstruction. Several signaled skepticism about how to get rid of it, and Sen. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) ManchinSenate majority offers Biden new avenues for Trump’s environmental reversals NIGHT ENERGY: Most Senate offers Biden new avenues for Trump’s environmental reversals | Democrats seek action on several climate bills | Biden presses to cancel Keystone XL pipeline as soon as he takes over: reports the Daily Beast reporter discusses prospects for K MORE stimulus checks (DW.Va.) promised that he would not vote to do so.
Democrats will only have a 50-seat majority, as incoming vice president Kamala Harris
Most Kamala HarrisSenate offers Biden new avenues for environmental reversals from Trump Lights of the Empire State Building on the eve of Biden’s inauguration to honor the victims of COVID-19 READ: Harris letter resigning the Senate before the inauguration MORE they can break the tie, meaning that they would need the support of all members of the caucus if they wanted to implement the “nuclear option” and get rid of the obstruction with just a simple majority.
McConnell indicated in a letter to the Senate Republican convention that he wanted to use the negotiations with Schumer on how to organize the Senate to reach an agreement on the future of the obstruction.
“I believe that the time has come to address this issue head on, before the passions of a particular issue arise,” wrote McConnell.
Without an agreement between McConnell and Schumer, the Senate is expected to be stuck in limbo until the two leaders resolve, including Republicans who still have a majority on some committees, although Schumer will become the Senate majority leader on Wednesday once that three new Democratic and Harris senators are sworn in.
The final deal is expected to largely mirror a 2001 power-sharing deal, where the White House party technically had a majority in the Senate. Under that agreement, Democrats would also chair the committees, but legislation and nominations that tied the vote could still be sent to the floor.
A spokesman for Schumer said on Tuesday night that they had a “substantive conversation” and “made progress” on issues such as confirmation of the president-elect. Joe Biden
Joe BidenWoman accused of trying to sell Pelosi laptop to imprisoned Russians Trump gets the lowest job approval rate in recent days, while President Trump moves to lift coronavirus travel restrictions in Europe, Brazil MORECabinet, chooses and conducts a second impeachment trial for President Trump
Donald Trump Giuliani used provisional ballot to vote in the 2020 election, the same method that he discredited in the fight to overturn the results. retire MORE.
“In an organizational resolution, leader Schumer expressed that the fairest, most reasonable and easiest way is to adopt the 2001 bipartisan agreement without external changes on either side,” said the spokesman.