Tag Archives: Filibuster

Top Senate Republican warns of ‘scorched earth’ response if Democrats dump filibuster

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Democrats on Tuesday that doing away with the chamber’s filibuster rule would lead to a “completely scorched earth” Senate, in which Democratic President Joe Biden would have a much harder time moving his agenda.

Democrats who narrowly control the Senate in recent weeks have voiced more support for the idea of eliminating the custom that requires 60 votes to pass most legislation in the 100-seat chamber. They have said the move may be necessary to pass measures, including a House of Representatives-approved bill intended to make it easier to vote and other priorities of President Biden.

“This chaos would not open up an express lane to liberal change. It would not open up an express lane for the Biden presidency to speed into the history books. The Senate would be more like a 100-car pileup. Nothing moving,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said on the Senate floor.

“Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin … to imagine what a completely scorched-earth Senate would look like,” he added.

The Senate is currently split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday said Democrats hoped to work with Republicans to move forward legislation intended to improve voter participation, renew U.S. infrastructure and make sections of Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill permanent.

But he warned Democrats were determined to overcome Republican opposition, saying all options were on the table.

Stacey Abrams, an influential voting-rights advocate and former Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, also called on Sunday for the Senate to exempt election reform legislation passed by the House over Republican opposition from the filibuster procedural hurdle.

(Reporting by David Morgan, Editing by Scott Malone and Bernadette Baum)

Filibuster face-off: Schumer, McConnell at loggerheads over U.S. Senate power sharing

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A standoff between new U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and the man he replaced, Republican Mitch McConnell, over a core rule of Senate operations has kept the two from reaching a deal on how to manage the 50-50 chamber.

Schumer is resisting McConnell’s demand for a promise to protect the long-standing Senate rule requiring a supermajority of 60 votes to advance most legislation, known as the legislative filibuster.

Their argument is holding up the basic organization and work of the Senate as it begins the new year with 50 senators from each party. Committees have not reorganized to accommodate new members.

“Things are on hold. I’ve got a lot of things I want to do,” the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, told reporters on Thursday.

Democrats have the majority in the Senate because the new vice president, Democrat Kamala Harris, can vote in case of a tie.

But she cannot be expected to be there every day to decide every dispute. So Schumer and McConnell started talking earlier this week about a possible power-sharing deal governing daily operations, similar to a deal struck two decades ago when the Senate also had a 50-50 split.

McConnell is pushing for a commitment from Schumer to protect the filibuster, which some progressive Democrats have suggested should be ditched so that Democrats can pass their agenda without Republican support.

“I cannot imagine the Democratic leader would rather hold up the power-sharing agreement than simply reaffirm that his side won’t be breaking this standing rule of the Senate,” McConnell said Thursday.

Democrats could unilaterally change the rule to require only a simple majority for legislation to advance, if all 50 Democrats plus Harris agreed to do so, a gambit sometimes called the “nuclear option.” In recent years, the rules have been changed to allow most judicial and Cabinet nominations to advance with a simple majority, but not legislation.

Schumer is resisting McConnell’s demand, telling reporters on Thursday he did not want any “extraneous” provisions in the power-sharing deal.

Moderate Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin favor keeping the legislative filibuster. But even Manchin supports Schumer sticking to his guns and not making any promises to McConnell, keeping the threat of going “nuclear” on legislation in reserve if Republicans do not work cooperatively.

“Chuck has the right to do what he’s doing,” Manchin told reporters this week. “He has the right to use that to leverage in whatever he wants to do.”

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney)

Senate Republicans agree to vote on gun control: Democratic senator

Gun Control meeting of politicans

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy ended a blockade of the Senate after nearly 15 hours on Thursday, saying Republicans agreed to hold votes on measures to expand background checks and prevent people on U.S. terrorism watch lists from buying guns.

Democrats stalled Senate proceedings on Wednesday in a bid to push for tougher gun control legislation following Sunday’s massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and spoke on the Senate floor through out the night.

Republicans, who currently have a 54-person majority in the Senate, have over the years blocked gun control measures, saying they step on Americans’ right to bear arms as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

“When we began there was no commitment, no plan to debate these measures,” Murphy, of Connecticut, said during the 15th hour of the filibuster early on Thursday.

He said Democrats were given a commitment by the Senate’s Republican leadership that votes would be allowed on two measures on preventing gun sales to people on terrorism watch lists and expanding background checks.

“No guarantee that those amendments pass but we’ll have some time to … prevail upon members to take these measures and turn them into law,” Murphy said.

With Republicans and the National Rifle Association gun lobby under pressure to respond to the massacre, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would meet with the NRA to discuss ways to block people on terrorism watch or no-fly lists from buying guns.

The Senate had began discussions on legislation to ban firearm sales to the hundreds of thousands of people on U.S. terrorism watch lists. The Orlando gunman, who carried out the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, had been on such a list.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged senators on Wednesday to offer ideas on how to prevent another attack like the one in Orlando.

Late on Wednesday Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said negotiations “were little more than a smokescreen by Republicans trying to give themselves political cover while they continue to march in lock-step with the NRA’s extreme positions.”

If Congress was to pass a gun control measure, it would mark the first time in more than 20 years that lawmakers agreed on how to address the hot-button issue. A ban on semi-automatic assault weapons, such as the one used in Orlando, had gone into effect in 1994 and expired 10 years later.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Writing Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Bill Trott)

Senate Democrats Block Bill to Condemn Iran Nuclear Deal

Senate Democrats have blocked the resolution of disapproval on the Iran nuclear deal by keeping the bill from being able to have a formal vote.

The move means the Democrats will filibuster any attempt to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, which would require 60 total votes to obtain cloture.

Republican leaders in the Senate said they would be bringing the measure back up for debate along with proposing new sanctions against Iran despite the nuclear deal.  The number 2 Republican in the Senate, Sen. John Cornyn, pointed out that earlier this year Democrats voted to give Congress a say on the deal but the filibuster blocks that exact thing from happening.

“We’ll revisit the issue next week and see if maybe any folks want to change their minds,” Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell said in a speech.

The President, however, chose to focus on the fact Democrats blocked the bill from being able to get an up or down vote in the Senate chamber means the deal will go into effect.

“This vote is a victory for diplomacy, for American national security, and for the safety and security of the world,” President Obama said. “I am heartened that so many senators judged this deal on the merits, and am gratified by the strong support of lawmakers and citizens alike.”

House leadership said they will go forward with their votes condemning the deal.

“This is a bad deal with decades-long consequences for the security of the American people and our allies. And we’ll use every tool at our disposal to stop, slow, and delay this agreement from being fully implemented,” House Speaker John Boehner told a news conference.