I look forward to Republican Senators tying themselves into knots to explain why they voted “no” on a bill virtually identical to one that passed unanimously a short while ago.
Edited to add that the headline is badly misleading. There’s nothing new here and nothing in these bills that is likely to end the shutdown.
Further edited to add that there is speculation from other respected commenters here that this is a sign of McConnell blinking. I sincerely hope that they are correct but I remain skeptical.
Edited to add that I now have data that indicates that McConnell did not blink. The “compromise” bill is out and, gee, what a surprise: Trump lied about its provisions. There are so many poison pills in this bill that no Democrat, even red state Democrats, should vote for it. It’s a complete rewrite of our asylum seeker laws, a Miller wet dream. This is not a good-faith effort to end the shutdown. These links aren’t even all of the poisonous provisions. There’s more in various Twitter threads, mostly by horrified immigration attorneys who have trouble believing what they are reading.
And cue the Coulter/Limbaugh outrage machine in 3…2…1…
… and Senate Democrats’ plan to temporarily reopen the government until Feb. 8 to allow both sides to negotiate on a broader deal would need support from President Trump to pass, which seems unlikely.
No it doesn’t, Congress can override his veto.
Cc @mshuham
I don’t think that I want to predict the outcome of this. It is hard to make predictions when one has gone through the looking glass into Wonderland.
What is does do is now put the Senate on the spot.
Rs will have to justify their votes to keep the govt shuttered if they don’t vote for the Dem bill.
Or to override a tRUmp veto.
They have the power, but do they have the will?
Probably with the same justification that McTurtle has been using all along.
Remember, you’d have to peel off enough to get to 67 to be veto-proof, that’s a big ask.
All that they’re doing by holding the two votes is establishing a baseline of where things stand.
I’m assuming that’s a rhetorical question, since you already know the answer.
I just sent this Letter to the Editor.
To the Editor,
In the past when Congress and the President are at loggerheads the media would speculate if Congress would override a veto.
Now the media promotes McConnell’s propaganda that he won’t hold a vote on any funding bills unless Trump will sign them without any mention of the ability of Congress to veto override a veto.
When did our national media deem veto overrides to be passé and why?
The media helped elect Trump. Now it is helping extend the shutdown by portraying this as a partisan issue instead of a national security issue which can be resolved by overriding Trump’s veto. Why is the media complicit in this attack on America?
We will soon know if the GOP has any intention of ending the government shutdown, or if this is just another media stunt.
Trump: Mitch, I’m screwed! Need your help, pass a bill to reopen the government, no matter what I say, and please let Coulter and Limbaugh to yell at you. I’ll owe you one.
McConnell: You already owe me many, how about you start paying? Need some transportation projects so my wife can sell some contracts…
After the last four weeks I’m guessing Mitch McConell’s bowels are tied in knots. At least, I hope so.
Right now Senators have cover. They don’t have cover when they have to vote. That’s a good thing.
The media has been following Mitch’s spin that he won’t allow a vote on any bill unless he knows Trump will sign it. Here’s link to Letter to Editor asking why media isn’t pointing out Congress has power to override veto.
Currently the narrative is “Congress is helpless” and the media is supporting that. That needs to change.
$20 says it’s a stunt. They’ll put the bill up, it’ll take maybe a handful of Republican votes, not enough to get to 60 or 67. Then they’ll point to that as the need for Democrats to yield to their demands.
Let them be outraged. Fuck em
About fucking time, McConnell, you POS.
BUT, the MSM will IGNORE the Democratic Bill and focus SOLELY on the Republican one all the while accusing Democrats of “blocking passage of a bill to end the shutdown” with no context of course.
The only reason it took this long to come to the floor of the Senate is the Republicans had to make sure they had all the MSM lined up with THEIR NARRATIVE ready to go for the Reich Wing Media Blitz the day the votes (both) fail.
It takes time to get all the pundits their talking points and payoffs.
There’s nothing new here and nothing in these bills that is likely to end the shutdown.
Though the latter part is probably true, there is something new here and possibly pretty consequential.
McConnell finally blinked.
That would have been my headline for this article.