McConnell Pledges Fight
By Quin Posted in Analysis and Predictions — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
A good GOP Senate source reports today that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the entire Republican Conference (I think it was yesteray; maybe this morning; am unclear on the timing) about the judge-fight issue. McConnell is said to have been very insistent that he would not let Majority Leader Reid's broken promise go unpunished, and that he will be prepared to take significant action when Congress returns from its Memorial Day break if Reid has not lived up to his pledge. He would not tell the Conference exactly what action he was planning, but he did say it would be very firm, and that all concerned would know it when we see it.
I hope this report is true. And I hope McConnell remains as insistent. And I hope the rest of the Republican senators back him up. And I hope the White House actually helps out. But, while I believe McConnell means what he says, I won't hold my breath waiting for all these things to happen in concert.....
recess / vacation
by olly
Excellent question skippy ! (Yes, Republicans can easily block any recess)
But if you ask all 100 Senators to choose between (for example) Keisler or their own vacation, I'm sure the vote would be unanimously 100-0. (Sad, but true...)
Un-punished?
by cboldt
Un-punished seems an inflammatory characterization. The object isn't to "punish," but rather to obtain objectives. What action will the GOP take to obtain its objectives or to thwart DEM advancement of objectives that are antithetical to GOP ideals?
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Whatever those are, they should be happening independently from a broken promise to confirm 3 judges by a date certain.
McConnell's Action
by 7th Heaven
I smell Discharge Petitions. Not one, but three. There is no principled reason to block Keisler, Matthews and Conrad. No one Senator has blue slipped them. Give them an up or down vote. McConnell has been lied to one too many times. Leahy will be circumvented once and for all.
As I understand it, such a petition causes a floor vote on whether to bypass the committee (i.e. the committee chair for all practical purposes) and bring the measure (or in this case the nominee) to the floor. You can bet your last dollar that such a vote will fail, and the Dems will say they weren't really voting against the nominee, just against the evil Rethuglican attempt to bypass 240 years of Senate tradition blah blah blah. Byrd can give a tearful speech about how they are trying to take advantage of his dear dear dear dear dear friend Ted Kennedy's absence.
From what I've read, there have been a couple of successes from the House in this regard, with McCain-Feingold being a prime example. Has one ever worked from the Senate? When is the last time one was ever even tried from the Senate?
Why can't McConnell block recessing or adjourning the Senate? Tell the Democrats - 'If you don't vote on judges, then we won't recess and take vacation, even for Memorial Day.' What better way to pay tribute to our fallen soldiers over Memorial Day by protecting our constitution!