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WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell ominously warned Tuesday (March 16) of a “scorched earth” outlook if Democrats use their new majority to end Senate filibuster in hopes of forcing legislation that supports President Joe Biden’s agenda beyond the Republican opposition.
McConnell unleashed the dire prognosis of a Senate that would almost cease to function, implying that Republicans would paralyze business by refusing to consent to routine operations, from session start time to reading lengthy legislative texts. , Quorum call votes.
“Let me say this very clearly to all 99 of my colleagues: No one serving in this chamber can even begin, cannot even begin to imagine, what a completely scorched-earth Senate would look like,” McConnell said in a speech at the Senate.
McConnell said the partisan stalemate of the Trump and Obama days would seem like “child’s play” compared to what is to come.
The Republican leader’s stern comments landed as the Biden administration is taking a victory lap over the recently approved $ 1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the large COVID-19 aid package that was approved by Congress without a single Republican vote.
Republicans privately acknowledged that they are fighting to divert attention from the bill, which appears to be popular with Americans who benefit from $ 1,400 cash payments, vaccine distribution, and other aid as the Republican Party focuses in future battles.
With the Senate split evenly 50-50, the rest of Biden’s priorities face a more difficult escalation in Congress. While the Democratic-controlled House can quickly pass a long list of potentially popular bills, to expand voting rights, extend gun purchase background checks and other measures, Senate rules are more cumbersome. Typically, 60 votes are required to break a filibuster and move most legislation forward.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed McConnell’s comments as a “distraction” and said he hopes to work with Republicans on upcoming bills, but said all options for filibuster changes are on the table.
Senate Democrats are speaking privately about changing decades-old rules for filibuster, allowing a single senator to block a bill by objecting. In earlier times, senators would take the floor and talk for hours about their objections, as was done in the Hollywood movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” They also used it to stop civil rights legislation in the mid-20th century.
Supporters of the process say it protects the rights of the party that is not in power, but critics argue that it is being used to block popular bills.
Senator Dick Durbin said Tuesday that nearly 65 years after South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond’s record filibuster of more than 24 hours on the Civil Rights Act of 1957, “filibuster continues to mock American democracy.”
It takes 51 votes to change Senate rules and end filibuster, and Democrats don’t seem to have support within their ranks to do so, even with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker. At least two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have raised their objections, but there may be more.
Biden’s preference is to “make no changes” to the Senate obstruction rules, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. But he added: “He is also open to hearing ideas and those discussions will take place in Congress.”
The Senate will be tested in the coming weeks. As senators begin to consider bills passed by the House, Democrats will test the willingness of Republicans to participate in the legislative process by modifying the bills for eventual approval.
If Republicans simply block the bills, Democrats are expected to lean harder to try to change the rules.
Some Democrats want to demand that senators who participate in filibusters be forced to speak, as Jimmy Stewart did in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” These days, senators can simply point to his obstructionism, which Durbin ridiculed as “Mr. Smith is calling you on the phone.”
“We have to change the rules,” Durbin said.
McConnell warned Democrats not to take the next step and revealed actions he could take in retaliation.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell climbs a meter on Capitol Hill after criticizing Democrats for wanting to change the obstructionist rule, in Washington on March 16, 2021 (Photo: AP / J Scott Applewhite).
“This is an institution that requires unanimous consent to turn on the lights before noon, to proceed with a speech on the garden variety floor, to dispense with the reading of lengthy legislative text, to schedule committee business, to move even uncontroversial nominees to anything other than a snail’s pace, “he said.
Shifts to filibuster have been underway for a decade, a growing procedural arms race coupled with the nation’s growing partisanship.
Democrats removed the obstructionist rules to overcome the Republican lockdown on the executive branch nominations of President Barack Obama and some judicial nominees.
Republicans and McConnell then stepped up the process by removing obstructionism for Supreme Court justices, softening the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s three superior court nominees.
