The Senate returned from the Thanksgiving break Monday afternoon to start work right away on the pile of things they’ve got to accomplish by the end of the year. Republicans started their week by embarking on the chaos they intend wreak to prevent that work. They are going to make the next month hell because that’s what they do. It’s the annual Republican War on Christmas.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer decided to start with the one thing that should be easy: defense spending, the bill that never fails to pass easily and which the House already padded with $24 billion more than the Pentagon even asked for from Congress. Schumer wanted to jump right on it and get it out of the way. So the minute they got back Monday, he put up a cloture vote so the process of getting it out of the way could begin.
Sen. Mitch McConnell doesn’t want to do that, so every Republican except Sen. Susan Collins blocked the bill from moving forward, voting against the cloture motion to start legislative work on it. McConnell said he wanted to spend more time on it. What McConnell wanted to do was continue to screw Schumer, because time is one thing the Senate—the whole Congress—doesn’t have right now. Government funding expires on Dec. 3. This Friday. The debt ceiling will be hit in the days following Dec. 15, according to the Treasury. That’s just the top two things that have to be dealt with this week and next.
On the Senate floor Monday, Schumer said averting a government shutdown and default are the top priorities for the week. “With so many critical issues, the last thing that the American people need right now is a shutdown,” he said. “The last thing the American people need right now is a government shutdown, and Democrats are going to work this week to make sure we don’t have one.” He was countered by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who was on the floor to vote against getting the defense bill done. He said this: “This year our Democratic colleagues who control the Senate agenda have ignored some of the Senate’s most important and basic responsibilities, leaving us with a whole lot to do and not a whole lot of time in which to do it.” While he was blocking the Senate from doing its basic business.
The Senate will deal with government funding the usual—but not normal—way, with a continuing resolution that funds the government at fiscal year 2020 levels. They’ll buy enough time to get through the rest of this year by extending it to either Jan. 21 or Jan. 28, and will keep it to the minimum of extra measures, possibly including emergency funding to resettle Afghan refugees. Republicans want it to last longer than that—long into 2022—because that causes more headaches for Democrats. The continuing resolution won’t include a debt ceiling hike, but Democrats could do it in a budget reconciliation bill, which can be passed with just Democratic votes. The current deadline for dealing with that is Dec. 15.
The usual barrier for Democrats to do the thing they need to do—Sen. Joe Manchin—seems okay with that. “It’s our responsibility to make sure that we take care of the debt ceiling. And Democrats are now in control, so we want to make sure we do it and do it right,” Manchin told reporters. Schumer has continued to rule out the budget reconciliation process for raising the debt ceiling, as he wants to force Republican participation one way or another in making government function.
Schumer and McConnell have been talking for the last few weeks, so there’s an outside possibility that Republicans will allow Democrats to do it outside of a budget reconciliation process. They won’t actually help, as McConnell lieutenant Sen. John Thune was at pains to confirm. “All I can tell you is the Democrats are going to have to deliver the votes; we’ve been saying that all along,” he told reporters. That could mean simply an agreement that Republicans don’t filibuster a bill suspending the debt ceiling.
If that all gets done, possibly in the next 10 days, then there’s this:
That’s the budget reconciliation bill fulfilling the profound promise of President Joe Biden’s human infrastructure plan; the universal pre-K, the expanded child tax credits, the home health aid, the climate change provisions, the housing assistance plans.
All of which Manchin refuses to agree to as of now. “I think what we need to do is just really look at the bill that we have right now, what came from the House,” Manchin said regarding starting debate on the bill. He also raised the same bullshit argument he’s been relying on for weeks: “I heard an awful lot over the Thanksgiving break that prices were high and people were very much upset about that and concerned about: Is inflation going to get worse?” Manchin said.
Inflation might indeed get worse, but not because of this bill, every economist of note agrees. In fact, the provisions in this bill—especially the extended child tax credits—will ease economic pressure on families. It’s almost like Manchin is just making shit up that sounds plausible in order to justify his continued obstruction.
Meanwhile, there’s the other bullshit that pretty much every Democrat is maintaining: that the Senate parliamentarian rules everything, particularly on the immigration provisions in the bill. “Democrats will continue to meet with the Senate parliamentarian in order to complete the technical and procedural work required before a bill comes to the floor,” Schumer said on the floor Monday. “Meetings were held over the Thanksgiving week, and we will continue this week and next week as needed.”
The parliamentarian is an employee of the Senate, and their advice can be ignored or overruled, although that could create Manchin problems again. Which means, in Manchin’s own words: “It’s going to be a long month.”
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer decided to start with the one thing that should be easy: defense spending, the bill that never fails to pass easily and which the House already padded with $24 billion more than the Pentagon even asked for from Congress. Schumer wanted to jump right on it and get it out of the way. So the minute they got back Monday, he put up a cloture vote so the process of getting it out of the way could begin.
Sen. Mitch McConnell doesn’t want to do that, so every Republican except Sen. Susan Collins blocked the bill from moving forward, voting against the cloture motion to start legislative work on it. McConnell said he wanted to spend more time on it. What McConnell wanted to do was continue to screw Schumer, because time is one thing the Senate—the whole Congress—doesn’t have right now. Government funding expires on Dec. 3. This Friday. The debt ceiling will be hit in the days following Dec. 15, according to the Treasury. That’s just the top two things that have to be dealt with this week and next.
On the Senate floor Monday, Schumer said averting a government shutdown and default are the top priorities for the week. “With so many critical issues, the last thing that the American people need right now is a shutdown,” he said. “The last thing the American people need right now is a government shutdown, and Democrats are going to work this week to make sure we don’t have one.” He was countered by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who was on the floor to vote against getting the defense bill done. He said this: “This year our Democratic colleagues who control the Senate agenda have ignored some of the Senate’s most important and basic responsibilities, leaving us with a whole lot to do and not a whole lot of time in which to do it.” While he was blocking the Senate from doing its basic business.
The Senate will deal with government funding the usual—but not normal—way, with a continuing resolution that funds the government at fiscal year 2020 levels. They’ll buy enough time to get through the rest of this year by extending it to either Jan. 21 or Jan. 28, and will keep it to the minimum of extra measures, possibly including emergency funding to resettle Afghan refugees. Republicans want it to last longer than that—long into 2022—because that causes more headaches for Democrats. The continuing resolution won’t include a debt ceiling hike, but Democrats could do it in a budget reconciliation bill, which can be passed with just Democratic votes. The current deadline for dealing with that is Dec. 15.
The usual barrier for Democrats to do the thing they need to do—Sen. Joe Manchin—seems okay with that. “It’s our responsibility to make sure that we take care of the debt ceiling. And Democrats are now in control, so we want to make sure we do it and do it right,” Manchin told reporters. Schumer has continued to rule out the budget reconciliation process for raising the debt ceiling, as he wants to force Republican participation one way or another in making government function.
Schumer and McConnell have been talking for the last few weeks, so there’s an outside possibility that Republicans will allow Democrats to do it outside of a budget reconciliation process. They won’t actually help, as McConnell lieutenant Sen. John Thune was at pains to confirm. “All I can tell you is the Democrats are going to have to deliver the votes; we’ve been saying that all along,” he told reporters. That could mean simply an agreement that Republicans don’t filibuster a bill suspending the debt ceiling.
If that all gets done, possibly in the next 10 days, then there’s this:
That’s the budget reconciliation bill fulfilling the profound promise of President Joe Biden’s human infrastructure plan; the universal pre-K, the expanded child tax credits, the home health aid, the climate change provisions, the housing assistance plans.
All of which Manchin refuses to agree to as of now. “I think what we need to do is just really look at the bill that we have right now, what came from the House,” Manchin said regarding starting debate on the bill. He also raised the same bullshit argument he’s been relying on for weeks: “I heard an awful lot over the Thanksgiving break that prices were high and people were very much upset about that and concerned about: Is inflation going to get worse?” Manchin said.
Inflation might indeed get worse, but not because of this bill, every economist of note agrees. In fact, the provisions in this bill—especially the extended child tax credits—will ease economic pressure on families. It’s almost like Manchin is just making shit up that sounds plausible in order to justify his continued obstruction.
Meanwhile, there’s the other bullshit that pretty much every Democrat is maintaining: that the Senate parliamentarian rules everything, particularly on the immigration provisions in the bill. “Democrats will continue to meet with the Senate parliamentarian in order to complete the technical and procedural work required before a bill comes to the floor,” Schumer said on the floor Monday. “Meetings were held over the Thanksgiving week, and we will continue this week and next week as needed.”
The parliamentarian is an employee of the Senate, and their advice can be ignored or overruled, although that could create Manchin problems again. Which means, in Manchin’s own words: “It’s going to be a long month.”