What’s clear after a call between the WH and Democratic senators: There’s no desire to pare back the $1.9 trillion relief bill or break it up into smaller pieces, per several Democratic senators.
“There's not a lot of reason to believe that this place is equipped to pass a big package in parts and it's just unrealistic to think that it could get done that way,” Chris Murphy just told me.
When asked if he thought the dollar amount of the proposal would change, Van Hollen said: “I do not, I think you’ll see some change in the mix of certain amounts here and there.”
Dems begin budget process next week, with a budget resolution first. After that passes, Congress can then tee up reconciliation legislation that will likely include covid relief. That bill cannot be filibustered and can pass with just Democratic votes
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Schumer wants trial to start week of Feb. 8, per source familar. He’s about to announce on floor
Here’s the pre-trial schedule McConnell and Schumer agreed to, per a source familiar.
7p Monday the House will bring the article over to the Senate, per Schumer. Members will be sworn in Tuesday, Jan. 26. Then there will be a period of time to draft legal briefs. During that period, the Senate will work on nominations, he said. Then trial will begin Feb. 8 week
In a sign of how Biden's Cabinet nominees face a bumpy road if there's no power-sharing agreement in the Senate, Republicans are still chairing key committees and have the power to set the agenda until such an agreement is reached.
That's because the power-sharing agreement will spell out the number of seats that each caucus will have on Senate committees. Absent an agreement, the Senate will operate under the rules of the last Congress when the GOP controlled Senate majority and held committee chairs
This is evident this morning in the hearing for Biden's Transportation nominee, Pete Buttigieg, who is being questioned by the Senate Commerce. Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican from Mississippi, is chairing the hearing, and Sen. Maria Cantwell is serving as ranking member.
New - Some Republicans warning McConnell not to vote for Trump’s conviction. “If he does, I don't know if he can stay as leader," one senior GOP senator told me. “No,” Ron Johnson said when asked if he could support him as leader if he backs conviction. cnn.com/2021/01/20/pol…
“I think if any Republican-leader type who embraces that is doing a lot of damage to the party,” Lindsey Graham said of conviction.
"There's no way to be a successful Republican Party without having President Trump working with all of us and all of us working with him.”
Asked what it would mean for party if Republicans convicted Trump, Tuberville said: "It wouldn't be good. The whole thing is about a team, and if you start separating the team, then it just tears it up." He added: “You're going to impeach a guy who's not even in town anymore?"
Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is the President pro tempore of the Senate, told me that the decision on whether he will preside over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump remains in the hands of Chief Justice John Roberts.
"Is the chief justice going to preside?" Leahy said. "If the chief justice doesn't preside, we'll see where we go from there."
Asked if he had conversations about Roberts' interest or lack thereof in presiding, Leahy said: "If I had discussions, they'd be private."
Leahy added: "I've presided hundreds of hours ... really feel like I could do that. I've presided for hundreds of hours over the years. But the first choice would be the chief justice."
There remains some questions about whether Roberts will preside, as McConnell noted in a memo
Some of Biden's nominees could be stalled until McConnell and Schumer cut a deal on a resolution outlining how they'll share power in the Senate.
That's because the power-sharing agreement will specify how many senators will sit on the various committees.
Without a deal, the committee ratios from the last Congress -- when GOP maintained control of the Senate -- will continue. And that means that Biden will need cooperation from Republicans to begin committee consideration, or he'll have to wait until McConnell-Schumer cut a deal
That raises the stakes for the talks between McConnell and Schumer, which hit a snag on Tuesday. The GOP leader wants Schumer to take off the table the possibility that Democrats may try to gut the filibuster