,
10 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
The US Senate returns from its August recess and goes back into session this week. Herewith, a short list of urgent subjects ripe for legislation.
1. Gun safety. 2. Election security. 3. Suspension of Presidentual emergency authority (to address Trump’s seizure of funds Congress appropriated for military construction to pay for his stupid wall). 4. Suspension of Presidential authority to apply tariffs on imports.
These are just the policy subjects, unrelated to corruption, Trump’s tax returns & things of that nature. How should Senate Democrats proceed?
One option for @SenSchumer @ChrisMurphyCT @brianschatz & their colleagues is to earnestly approach Sen. McConnell & negotiate the size of the fig leaf Senate Republicans should get to cover their indifference to gun safety, election security & the other issues.
Another is to complain about McConnell. Democratic Senators running for President can both complain about McConnell and wax eloquent about abolishing the filibuster — which the winning candidate will not have the power to do, having left the Senate. But it’s an option.
I discussed a third option at length in this thread last month, in the event that Democratic Senators want to be Senators and not merely spectators.
The path of least resistance lies through one (or both) of the first two options. It must be especially attractive to Senators trying to find their way to the White House, and perhaps to others reluctant to fight battles they’re not assured of winning.
Politically, though, Senate Democrats are better off fighting battles on the floor & losing than trying to strike deals now, or deferring consideration of popular legislation until after the election. Senate Republicans have the votes to block action. So force them to block it.
At this moment in our history there is much discussion of institutions, their importance, and their recent decline. There isn’t any institution within the federal government more important to effective representative government than the Senate.
It’s perfectly fair to assign much blame for the crippling of the Senate to Mitch McConnell. But there are 99 other Senators; the rules of the body give them rights if they are willing to exercise them. Are they?
