Originally published at: Senate Democrats Decide Whether To Take A Stand On Republicans’ Poison-Pilled CR
We have less than two days to go before government funding runs out. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that Democrats, as of then, would not provide the votes to overcome the filibuster on the Trump-backed continuing resolution the House shoved through earlier this week. Instead, the Democratic leader and…
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Ain’t providing any cover in my household!
Murc’s Law be damned: The evil is on Republicans, and Democrats in the minority cannot be blamed for failure to block it at every turn – although Mitch McConnell gave them enough lessons in minority opposition bog knows – but they’ve let too much pass relatively unimpeded already and failure to full-court block this filthy MAGA CR when they have the capacity to do so is on them.
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Just to update on Tim Kaine. I tried to call his office this morning. The voice mailbox was full and they were not accepting more messages. I tried to get a staffer and no one is answering. I suspect that he is getting an overwhelming number of calls. I am trying Mark Warner next
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dems have no ideas and no guts. they will cave and then whine.
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Talked to Mark Warner’s staff. He is voting against the CR today (3/13/25)
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It would provide no cover. Have these people learned nothing? All people will see is the budget got passed and Dems failed to stop it. They wont care about any of the other details.
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“Thune told Punchbowl that Democratic leaders have not presented an offer on amendments so far, adding that he’s ‘open to those conversations and discussions.’”
My, what a reasonable-seeming fellow! Surely we can parley with him and arrive at a sensible and humane path forward for our two mutually reasonable organizations to benefit the people! No?
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The Democratic Senators can either be Kapos or fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto. Those are the only choices. There is no middle of the road with this administration.
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I find this whole notion of performative bullshit so insulting it’s the opposite of cover. Every single member of the Senate leadership should be primaried, as they are busy proving that they were incapable of learning anything from the last decade and a half.
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No there is not. Make Senate business slow down to a crawl or stop entirely if that’s what it takes as it’s business under MumpPublicans is madness and tyranny; e.g.,
The government that Trump and Musk are destroying, with the complicity of their party, is popular, and Republican members of Congress are apparently unwilling to have to vote on the policies that are putting their radical ideology into place. In an extraordinary move yesterday, House Republicans made it impossible for Congress to challenge Trump’s tariffs.
The Constitution gives to Congress, not the president, the power to impose tariffs. But the International Emergency Economic Powers Act allows the president to impose tariffs if he declares a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act, which Trump did on February 1. That same law allows Congress to end such a declaration of emergency, but if such a termination is introduced—as Democrats have recently done—it has to be taken up in a matter of days.
But this would force Republicans to go on record as either supporting or opposing the unpopular economic ideology Trump and Musk are imposing. So Republicans just passed a measure saying that for the rest of this congressional session, “each day…shall not constitute a calendar day” for the purposes of terminating Trump’s emergency declaration.
The Republicans’ legislation that a day is not a day seems to prove the truth of Burke’s observation that by trying to force reality to fit their ideology, radical ideologues will end up imposing tyranny in the name of liberty.
– Heather Cox Richardson (March 12, 2025)
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The (Possible) Dem Plan
Schumer’s public demand for an amendment vote to consider Dems’ 30-day stopgap bill would likely come in exchange for Dems giving Senate Republicans the votes they need to invoke cloture on the Trump-backed CR. That would mean that Senate Republicans would ultimately be able to pass the MAGA bill with a simple majority, eliminating the need for Democratic votes.
That’s not a plan, it’s abject capitulation. So I’m sure that’s what the vast majority of the spineless weaklings will go with.
Retiring in March next year, looks like Barbados will be our destination, I’d rather it was Italy but, ya know, land wars and stuff.
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Sometimes I feel like the project of the last decade has been alternately watching for any signs of individual Republicans with a spine, then watching for any signs of Democrats to act collectively like they have one. With maybe an exception here and there (like McCain’s actual stand), that’s been a fool’s errand.
Why can’t Democrats see that their insider procedural jockeying means sweet F.A. to anyone not actually in Congress?
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Is he voting for the 30 day version?
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Seems like at least half the Senate Dems need to be primaried out of office. I’m heartened by Patty Murray taking a stand. Don’t know where Cantwell stands.
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Look, I would only vote for a clean CR if I were in the Senate…
But let’s not pretend that there is no potential cost for a shutdown. Low information voters (and voters on a misinformation diet) will eat up the narrative that the Democrats caused the shutdown, and many might blame them for all the federal government dysfunction that will result from the GOP disemboweling the government.
I hope that the Dems can prevent the level of false messaging that would require. And as I said, I am on the side of not sanctioning the dismantling no matter what. But with the media moguls so supine they can probably taste their own sports sections, I think we have to acknowledge the possibility that the right choice might be politically costly.
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Since my city is going to be screwed over for the foreseeable future, this is just one more thing.
But by folding on this, DC is going to have an instant 15% budget cut mid-year, meaning payments have already been made for six months on an approved balanced 2025 budget.
Not because of a reduction in Federal funds (there is no federal savings there at all). But because the CR treats DC as an agency, REQUIRING spending be kept at 2024 levels.
Can you imagine Republicans getting on board with arbitrarily shaving 15% off North Dakota’s budget … for “reasons”?
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Although that sounds like a thoroughly gross dish, I like this version of the word even better:
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as far as I was told, he is not
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