Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that “simple arithmetic” ensures that legislative obstruction – a 60-vote procedural barrier for bills in the upper house – remains safe for now.
McConnell, R-Ky., Made the statement after lifting a demand that Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., agree in writing to preserve the obstruction for this Congress. The demand was no longer needed, said McConnell, because at least two other Democratic senators said they would not vote to get rid of the clause.
In a 50-50 Senate, this would guarantee Schumer would not be able to get rid of legislative obstruction if it tried.
McConnell and other Republicans have been adamant in protecting the obstruction as a bulwark against simple majority government in the Senate, even as many Democrats are clamoring to get rid of it to open the main agenda items.
ARCHIVE – On this November 4, 2020, the photo from the archive of Republican Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks to reporters in Bangor, Maine. Collins led a 2017 letter, signed by many Democrats, supporting legislative obstruction. Many of these Democrats went back. (AP Photo / Robert F. Bukaty, Archives)
“Legislative obstruction defines the Senate as the largest deliberative body in the world. It would be tragic if it were removed. And I believe Democrats would regret eventually following that path,” said Sen. Susan Collins, of R-Maine, in a statement to Fox News. “Frankly, Democrats must step back and acknowledge that it is a sacred Senate tradition.”
Collins led a 2017 letter with Senator Chris Coons, D-Del., Which was signed by many Democratic senators, defending the preservation of the obstruction. But since then, many Democrats, including Coons himself, have turned back.
A Coons spokesman told Fox News last year that “he does not want to get rid of the obstruction, but he will not stand still if Senate Republicans obstruct progress on urgent priorities.”
In comments on Tuesday, McConnell was explicit in his threats of the consequences if Democrats got rid of the obstruction. He said that Republicans may simply not attend committee meetings or Senate sessions, denying Democrats a 51-member quorum. Republicans can block mere speech programming or refuse to allow the Senate to meet before noon.
Things would happen “as hard as possible or never,” without the obstruction, McConnell warned, and that if Democrats got rid of the obstruction “it would be immediately and painfully clear to the Democratic majority that they really had just broken the Senate.”
Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y .; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., And senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., And others, called for an end to the obstruction to pursue progressive priorities. Others have indicated that they are open to this – including President Biden during the campaign.
“The obstruction is giving a veto to the arms industry, a veto to the oil industry, a veto to immigration,” Warren said in a Democratic presidential debate. “If we want to make progress, it’s time to end the obstruction.”
There are pressing issues, including the coronavirus and the economy, in which both sides will be forced to compromise regardless of the obstruction situation. But the almost certain preservation of obstruction creates a much more difficult path for Democrats to progress on certain issues that are priorities among progressives – and in some cases, the path will be almost impossible.
Here is a look at what obstruction preservation means for some of the Democratic agenda items
Packing
President Biden – despite promising during the campaign to let voters know his position on the issue after the election – has yet to take a position on some Democrats’ calls to fill the Supreme Court.
He probably won’t do that any time soon, as the issue is essentially debatable, now that the obstruction must remain. Republicans will almost certainly not accept any pressure to add seats to the Supreme Court, especially with a Democrat as president.
“If Republicans confirm Judge Barrett, end the obstruction and expand the Supreme Court,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., In a September tweet. Markey was notably one of the Democrats who signed the 2017 letter to preserve the obstruction.
Judge Barrett is now Judge Barrett. But, because of the small majority of Democrats, they will not be able to end the obstruction and will not be able to package the Supreme Court.
DC Statehood
This is also an impediment as long as obstructionism remains. House Democrats passed a bill to admit Washington, DC, as a state last year, but it would be necessary to overcome the 60-vote barrier in the Senate. No House Republican has voted to admit DC, as a state, and the case is unlikely to be any different in the Senate.
In July, McConnell said the creation of a state in DC is part of the Democrats’ plan to “bomb the Senate to fill it” with new Democratic senators from DC
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) addresses the Senate floor before being summoned to a session on January 26, 2021 in Washington, DC. McConnell has already warned against ending legislative obstruction and criticized Washington, DC’s admission as a state. (Photo by Samuel Corum / Getty Images)
“A coalition of left-wing special interests is explicitly campaigning, in quotes, ’51 by 51 ‘,” said McConnell. “They want senators to vandalize the rules to pass laws with a simple majority and then use that illegally obtained power to consolidate an alleged advantage by granting the District of Columbia two seats.”
The creation of a state for Puerto Rico is also likely to be off the table with the obstruction remaining, as Republicans recently mixed the condition of a state of Puerto Rico with DC, a state. This is despite the fact that its 2016 party platform includes the status of Puerto Rico State. Republicans did not update their platform in 2020.
$ 15 minimum wage
A $ 15 minimum wage is an exception for Republicans, and they made that clear years ago.
Some Senate Democrats have expressed interest in including a drastic increase in the minimum wage in a reconciliation package – the only real procedural way to obstruct legislation. But they can be prevented by what is called the Byrd Rule, which prohibits non-fiscal or budgetary provisions from reconciliation packages.
An independent $ 15 minimum wage account probably wouldn’t stand a chance against a Republican obstructionist. It is unclear whether Democrats would be willing to work with Republicans to raise the minimum wage below $ 15 an hour, or whether Republicans would be willing to engage in such a discussion.
Environment
Climate change legislation, and potentially a New Green Deal, is another issue that Democrats said is worth ending the obstruction. Vice President Harris, who as a senator signed the 2017 letter supporting the obstruction, said this during a meeting at CNN’s city hall in 2019.
“What if [Republicans] failing to act, as president of the United States, I am prepared to get rid of the obstruction to pass a New Green Deal, “she said.
A New Green Agreement is not going to happen in a Senate where the obstruction continues to exist. But as there are some Republican senators with environmental concerns, climate legislation is not entirely out of the question, in theory.
Anything about energy or the environment would be a difficult task, however, as evidenced by the Republicans’ disgust at Biden’s decision to ban the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
Immigration
If there is an important issue where an agreement is possible in the current 50-50 Senate, it is probably immigration. Both Republicans and Democrats have acknowledged that the issue has been a problem for years, even though they have yet to reach a major deal.
Biden’s immigration plan would allow a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants and would give Republicans little in return – and has little chance of going through an obstruction.
“In the first 100 days, President Biden also signaled a radical immigration agenda that appears to open the door to amnesty and open borders,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in an Fox News article.
President Joe Biden comments on COVID-19 in the White House State Dining Room on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
(AP)
But Biden is known for his willingness to negotiate across the hall, even though those in the far left wing of his party may not want him to do so. If he moderates the details, there may be a deal to be made with Republicans – something Grassley alluded to in the next sentence of that article.
“As the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I look forward to examining the legislative details and working to ensure that we have an immigration system that serves the interests of the American people,” wrote Grassley.
The moderate coalition of senators led by Collins and Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va. – who was among the Democrats who assured McConnell of his continued support for obstruction – could be the key in any immigration deal.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Weapons control
Gun control is another issue where action could be possible, probably with the help of the same Collins-Manchin coalition.
It probably won’t be as comprehensive as Warren intended when she defended to get rid of the obstruction because it gives “a veto to the arms industry”, but some Republicans – Collins is the main one – have long been open to some changes in federal gun laws.
But the full Biden-Harris gun control agenda, which was considered by Brady United to be “the biggest gun security fine in history”, is unlikely to pass. This included a ban on the manufacture and sale of “assault weapons” and more.