Legislation slows to crawl in divided Washington

About 100 days after the start of the new Congress, the legislation process slows considerably on Capitol Hill.

Of the 10 bills that have been passed so far this year, only two were large enough to impose a recorded vote in the Senate. The two agreements (a government funding agreement and a set of land) were retained compared to last year.

When asked what important points were in the Senate's GOP Legislative Program, Sen. John CornynThe names of John CornynBig Dem show little interest for the Senate. GOP gets used to saying "no" to Trump, Wendy Davis, who plans to run for a seat in the Texas Congress. MORE (R-Texas) acknowledged that it was not clear.

"Now that we have divided Congress, it really depends on Ms. Pelosi. [and] what she is ready to do. Until now, we do not really know the answer to this question, "said Cornyn, referring to the President Nancy PelosiNancy Patricia D'Alesandro PelosiL & former US Senator Ernest & # 39; Fritz & # 39; Hollings goes out at 97 years old Congress should look into its own taxes and travel, not just on Trump's house Dems sue Trump following a national emergency statement MORE (D-Calif.).

This change reflects a split government between Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate and White House. This is a change in the total control the GOP enjoyed during the first two years of the Trump presidency.

At this point in 2017, Republicans in the Senate had held 111 roll-call votes, up from 64 when they left the city on Thursday. The GOP had also confirmed Neil Gorsuch's candidacy to the Supreme Court, overturned several Obama rules and made a first step in the direction of an ObamaCare repeal attempt.

Given the impossibility of Pelosi, leader of the majority in the Senate Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellA Former Democratic Counselor Pleads Guilty of Harassing GOP Senators Attending the Kavanaugh Case Hearing The GOP Takes to Saying "No" to the New green agreement. The GOP is an opportunity to resume the debate on climate. (R-Ky.) And Trump team up to enact bipartite legislation, lawmakers are likely to stick to smaller bills by the 2020 election.

Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneHillicon Valley – Presented by the CTIA and the US Wireless Industry – A House Committee Approves a Bill Restoring Net Neutrality | FTC asks for more help with police technology | Senate Committee Advances Bill Against Illegal Automated Calls Cruz: "Devastating" If Trump Closes Mexico-US Border (R-S.D.) Stated that "things that are somehow incremental" are probably the "only things that will actually be done this year."

"You have to realize that you are going to face political forces that will be quite difficult in the next … years," he said.

Sen. Roy BluntRoy Dean BluntPermanence for CBMTRA is a small business across America Dems is under pressure from the left to intensify the legal battle against the "blue leaflets" The Democratic Senator introduces a bill against the "commercialization" of life online kids MORE (R-Mo.), Another member of management, said the "lesson" of lawmakers from the previous Congress should be to fund the entire government by the end of September.

"We must now go ahead with just the basic things that need to be done to fund the government," said Blunt. "If we did that, and two or three other things … it would be a very good legislative year."

Congress has until October 1 to pass 12 supply bills and avoid a second government shutdown this year. Legislators generally do not respect deadlines and must adopt a permanent resolution (CR) and lead the fight against funding.

As a sign of potential difficulty, a disaster relief program, generally a bill with significant bipartisan support, was derailed in the Senate as Democrats and Trump fought for additional assistance in Puerto Rico.

Sen. Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbyHuman Rescue Talks Blocked by Trump-Puerto Rico Dispute McConnell Taken Between Trump and GOP on Disaster Relief Disaster Assistance Bill Hangs During Battle of Trump Puerto Rico MORE (R-Ala.) Described the state of play of the Disaster Assistance Bill as a "dead end", an "exploration", a "blockage" and a "deadlock". dead end".

When asked how legislators could get a broader deal on government funding if they could not make more modest deals on disaster assistance, Shelby added that it does not " did not think it bodes well. "

In addition to financing the government, there is an exhaustive list of bills that must be passed by Congress: raise the debt ceiling, reach agreement on defense budget ceilings and other spending to avoid sequestration and a massive defense policy bill.

There is also an impending question about whether the new trade agreement between Trump, Canada and Mexico, called NAFTA 2.0, will be adopted by Congress.

Sen. Chuck GrassleyCharles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleyGrassley salutes History Channel sarcastically for playing the GOP story accustomed to saying "no" to Trump: the fight for the tax return is testing the loyalty of Mnuchin to Trump PLUS (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, urges Trump to drop steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada and Mexico, as this "would help clear the way "to the ratification of its trade agreement.

"It has to be done in the next couple of months – I guess you would say the next three months – if this is to be done this year," Grassley added.

Democrats have been able to use archaic legislative rules to vote on two issues that McConnell did not approve in the Senate and force Trump to use the first two vets in his administration: a resolution blocking his declaration of urgency and a second one likely veto on a resolution forcing him to cancel US support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.

House Democrats also held a steady pace of high-level votes, including on a far-reaching ethics reform bill, a resolution calling for a special advisor Robert MuellerRobert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud Mueller's choice to lead the investigation on RussiaThe report on Russia must be published and a reauthorization of the law on violence against women, which goes nowhere in the Senate.

McConnell dubbed the Electoral Reform Bill the "Protecting Democratic Politicians Act." Republicans have blocked Mueller's resolution five times and senators draft their own VAWA bill.

representative Hakeem JeffriesHakeem Sekou JeffriesLiberals exasperated by the policy in favor of the House, Carole King is lobbying lawmakers for a bill to protect the Rockies. John Legend, Jerome Powell, to Speak at the House Dems PLUS Retreat (D-N.Y.) Maintained that McConnell is "engaged in the permanent campaign".

"We have been sent to Congress to fundamentally govern on behalf of the American people, which, in a context of divided government, forces us to work together to try to find common ground," he said. declared.
McConnell acknowledged at a recent press conference that "with a divided government, the possibilities for bipartite legislation are" more limited. "

"The House will send us many bills that we are not likely to adopt. We will probably send them a lot of bills that they will not accept, "he said.

McConnell did not hesitate to use the floor of the Senate to force the Democrats to make public pronouncements on controversial issues while he was looking for fodder before the 2020 presidential election. Last month he forced the vote on the Green New Deal, a progressive resolution that divides the Democratic caucus of the Senate.

Cornyn suggested the Republicans force the votes on the issues raised in the 2020 Democratic White House fight to force senators, many of whom run for president, to register.

"I think it would be great," said Cornyn. "We should divide it into small pieces and have them vote."