Inside Elections: “Any conversation about DC statehood will inevitably include Republicans predicting a permanent influx of Democrats on Capitol Hill. But history reveals that two additional Democratic senators would rarely have made a difference in control of the Senate over the last half century.”
“A hypothetical DC statehood would have turned a Republican majority into a Democratic majority for just four months over the past 60 years.”
Playbook: “Washington is about to begin a four-week sprint that will include the House Democratic leadership and the Senate GOP leadership wrestling over another coronavirus relief package. Republicans have laid their marker — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the next package needs to protect kids, protect jobs and reform liability laws so entities can’t get sued. Democrats have pushed for state and local government relief, additional unemployment insurance and direct payments and bolstering testing.
“Time is short, of course, and this will go down to the wire. Both sides agree that a package will get passed by the end of the month. With McConnell saying that liability reform is his red line, the question becomes: What does he have to give up to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to get it?
“President Trump and the White House are still making noises about a payroll tax cut — their only idea, it seems. Keep your eyes on chief of staff Mark Meadows. We expect he — not Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — will be the chief negotiator this time around.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warned Democrats not to mess with the filibuster rule if they win control of the chamber in November, The Hill reports.
Said McConnell: “The important thing for our Democratic friends to remember is that you may not be in total control in the future, and anytime you start fiddling around with the rules of the Senate, I think you always need to put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes and just imagine what might happen when the wind shifts.”
The White House last week asked Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to block a bill that punishes China over its encroachments in Hong Kong, Politico reports.
Cramer obliged, blocking unanimous passage of the bill last week — even though he’s a co-sponsor of it.
When confronted, Cramer admitted: “Even for us, this is dysfunctional.”
“A divided Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Trump’s 200th judicial nominee, a milestone that reflects the breakneck speed at which he and fellow Republicans have moved to create a legacy that will endure regardless of the outcome of this year’s elections,” the Washington Post reports.
“Senate Republicans’ police reform bill failed to gain enough votes to advance the measure in a procedural vote Wednesday,” Axios reports.
“It highlights the extent of their split with Democrats, who have blasted the GOP bill as “not salvageable” for failing to properly address what they believe are fundamental issues, like the banning of police chokeholds.”
“The vote was 55 to 45. The bill needed 60 votes to proceed.”
Top Democratic senators told Mitch McConnell that the Republicans’ policing overhaul is “not salvageable” — the latest sign that Democrats will filibuster the GOP bill on Wednesday and that the Senate is headed for deadlock on the issue, Politico reports.
Washington Post: “The partisan standoff raises questions about whether Congress is capable of responding to the incidents of police brutality, the nationwide protests and the demands for change less than five months before the election.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told Politico that he won’t rule out getting rid of the filibuster.
Said Coons: “I will not stand idly by for four years and watch the Biden administration’s initiatives blocked at every turn.”
“Democratic senators on Monday gave their strongest indications yet they may block the Republican police reform bill from coming to the floor, a risky move that could prevent any overhaul measure from being enacted this year over their party’s concerns that the GOP bill is too weak,” CNN reports.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) signaled on Saturday that he will not move forward with a nomination for the U.S. attorney for Manhattan without sign off from two Democratic senators, The Hill reports.
Graham said he would wait to receive a “blue slip” — a sheet of paper that indicates if a home-state senator supports a nomination — before moving forward with a new nominee to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Said Graham: “As to processing U.S. Attorney nominations, it has always been the policy of the Judiciary Committee to receive blue slips from the home state senators before proceeding to the nomination. As chairman, I have honored that policy and will continue to do so.”
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) blocked the Senate from passing a bill to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol, The Hill reports.
Politico: “Senate Democrats are agonizing over what to do about Senate Republicans’ police reform proposal. They can either shoot down the legislation next week and face charges of obstruction amid a national reckoning on race — or advance a bill that they say needs massive changes in order to meet the moment. The dilemma was hoisted on them Wednesday after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) abruptly rejiggered the Senate schedule to bring Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) legislation to the floor.”
“Democrats have little intention of allowing the bill to pass as is, but the caucus is divided over the best path ahead.”
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he planned to stay on as Republican leader regardless of whether he’s relegated to the minority or keeps control of the Senate,” Politico reports.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is coming under fire for her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, after Kavanaugh dissented in Monday’s landmark ruling affirming that federal anti-discrimination laws protect gay and transgender employees, the Washington Post reports.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told the Washington Post that he is in “complete remission” after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in November 2018.
“With his call for the military to be deployed in U.S. cities gripped by protests over police brutality, Sen. Tom Cotton has found himself in a familiar position: Rallying conservatives, enraging Democrats and further raising his national profile amid growing speculation over his future ambitions,” the Washington Post reports.
“The Arkansas Republican has been minted as a political up-and-comer since he entered Congress in 2013, yet he cemented his status as a hero on the right when an op-ed he authored for the New York Times on using the military to deter looting and violent unrest amid the demonstrations provoked an unusual public furor among its journalists, who called it inflammatory. The uproar led to the ouster of the newspaper’s powerful opinions editor.”
“That turmoil at the Times has only emboldened Cotton, 43, a relatively junior senator who has nonetheless demonstrated his influence in the Trump era by having the president’s ear and embracing key tenets of Trumpism that have, at times, put the men at odds with some in their own party.”
“President Trump is facing more delays to his nominees than any previous president. And if Joe Biden beats him, the former vice president might get it even worse,” Politico reports.
“The Senate’s confirmation process is nearly broken, and the numbers show it’s a race to the bottom. George W. Bush faced the most procedural hurdles and filibusters to his nominees until Barack Obama was elected and faced historic blockades. Then Trump came along and became the record holder in just part of a term.”
“It’s the latest glaring sign of Senate dysfunction, showing just how difficult it has become to staff up an administration. And it’s hard to imagine that Republicans will go easy on Biden if he wins, even as both parties decry the trend.”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) marched in a Washington, DC, protest after the death of George Floyd in a break from other GOP lawmakers who have largely aligned behind President Trump’s militarized response to nationwide unrest, CNN reports.
Romney told the Washington Post that he was participating in the demonstration “to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.” The Utah senator later tweeted a photo of himself at the protest with the caption “Black Lives Matter,” becoming one of the most prominent GOP figures to do so.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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