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- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is wielding all power to prevent Democrats from carrying out their agenda.
- Democrats are pushing back McConnell’s demands now that they have full control of Congress and the White House.
- The deadlock put the Senate in a bind at the start of Biden’s presidency.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is wielding every power he can to stop Democrats from fulfilling their legislative agenda now that they control both Congress and the White House.
The Kentucky senator, who has been relegated to the position of Minority Leader, has yet to strike a power-sharing deal with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, which is needed for the Senate to reorganize and do move forward with its work after the Democrats take a majority. Wednesday.
McConnell’s heist is about filibuster. he wants Schumer to pledge not to tamper with legislative tactics, which are often used as minority control over majority by delaying or blocking passage of a bill unless it hits a threshold of 60 votes. With the Senate split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker, some Democrats have argued that achieving this supermajority can be a big boost when trying to get their policies through. .
“Legislative filibuster is a crucial part of the Senate,” McConnell told the Senate Thursday. “I can’t imagine the Democratic leader preferring to uphold the power-sharing deal rather than simply reaffirming that his side will not violate this standing Senate rule.”
McConnell’s main goal is to prevent legislation without Republican support from reaching President Joe Biden’s office. The self-styled “Grim Reaper,” McConnell is no longer the leader of the upper house for the first time in six years, but he still tries to bend the rules to his liking and in a chamber that has long given extraordinary power legislator to block the agenda of the whole body.
McConnell asked Democrats to give assurances that they will protect filibuster for the next two years and not bypass the 60-vote requirement, which could be done through maneuvers such as the “option nuclear ”, a procedure which allows the adoption of bills. with a simple majority of 51 votes. The timing appears to be tied to the 2022 midterm elections, when Republicans will have the opportunity to topple the House and Senate.
Democratic leaders have vowed to push McConnell back and have already rejected his demands. Schumer did not signal his intentions with the filibuster, but he indicated he was unwilling to cede the Democrats’ new power to the minority leader.
“McConnell’s proposal would remove a tool that the Republican leader himself used twice in the last Congress,” Schumer told the Senate on Friday. “Chief McConnell’s proposal is unacceptable – and it will not be accepted. And the Republican leader knew that when he first proposed it.”
“The American people want us to work together and move past the trivial political battles and blockages that have plagued us for too long,” Schumer added. “It’s time to get down to business.”
For now, the stalemate has left the Senate stuck. Schumer was not as influential as he hoped during his early days as majority leader. One of his top priorities – which is also Biden’s – to provide economic aid to millions of Americans in financial difficulty due to the coronavirus pandemic, has been delayed. Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus deal was not brought to the negotiating table. Democrats also did not take on the committee chair positions, meaning Republicans led the confirmation hearings of Biden’s Cabinet appointments, creating confusion and stalling the process.
One area where Democrats have fought back is impeachment. McConnell had sought to postpone a Senate impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump until February. However, the Democratic-led House plans to send the impeachment article to the Upper House on Monday, Schumer said on Friday. The Senate is then constitutionally mandated to begin the trial the next day at 1 p.m.
Still, the meager margins of Congress won’t play much in the Democrats’ favor when it comes to major pieces of legislation, and their newfound power may hinge on their ability to unite against McConnell and his caucus.
Some centrist Democrats may balk at progressive legislation or renounce filibuster. Meaning. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, for example, are likely to defect from the GOP on issues like these.
Biden also challenged himself by insisting on crossing the party aisle and bridging political divisions. He has repeatedly promised during the election campaign and now as president to work on bipartisanship – and that involves working with McConnell.
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