Two Republican senators are taking a page from the House nihilists, using similar tactics to shut down Senate operations. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has blocked hundreds of military appointments and promotions as an objection to a Department of Defense policy that allows service members time and a travel allowance, as needed, to obtain abortions or infertility treatments. This week, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance decided to add his own blockade on Justice Department nominees to protest Donald Trump’s being held accountable for his alleged crimes against the government.
In an intersection of those issues, Tuberville wasn’t at the Senate on Tuesday. He was at Trump’s Bedminster Golf Club to provide moral support to the twice-indicted walking, talking national security threat. The Senate could have taken advantage of absence, and moved the whole bloc of nominees through with a unanimous consent vote. There are so many of these nominees, there’s simply not enough floor time to have individual votes on every single one of them. That’s why Democrats have been trying for months to get unanimous consent to approve them. Which they could have tried to do Tuesday, at the very least.
But no.
That’s Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin again upholding the “unwritten rules” of the Senate that keep turning him and fellow Democrats into patsies. He says “you don’t take advantage of a person’s absence,” which is pretty much what the Republicans did to his own committee when they refused Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s request that she be temporarily replaced for health reasons.
It’s also just not true. When Sen. Harry Reid was Majority Leader, he broke one of his own senator’s blocks on a nominee. The senator in question was Oregon’s Ron Wyden, who was out on paternity leave because his twins had just been born. That was an obnoxious move on Reid’s part, but it’s also how real leadership works. In the current case, there should be absolutely no niceties observed. This isn’t just on Durbin, it’s also on current Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who needs to review the tape from the days of his former leader.
Not dealing with Tuberville leads to a poser like Vance stepping up to have his own little Freedom Caucus-inspired moment. His is mostly performative because there aren’t nearly as many Justice Department nominees as Defense, but it is still annoying and it makes the Democrats look like saps, again. The Democrats are on the floor arguing regularly that the blockade is endangering national security, but still won’t deal with this—when there are even Republicans on their side trying to get Tuberville to relent.
Democrats are handing the Republican minority veto power again and again on the key thing they can be doing now: getting people nominated. That includes in Durbin’s committee, where he continues to play nice with Republicans on blue slips, inviting them to block Biden nominees. When it comes to standing up to these Republicans they’re failing. They’re letting Senate Republicans turn the place into the House where the nihilists rule.
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This week on "The Downballot," we're joined by guest host Joe Sudbay and law professor Quinn Yeargain for a deep dive into major political developments in three states. First up is Arizona, where a key GOP retirement on the Board of Supervisors in jumbo Maricopa County gives Democrats an excellent chance to win their first majority since the 1960s. Then it's on to Arkansas, where citizens are working to overturn a Republican bill that purports to ban "critical race theory" in public schools by qualifying a referendum for the ballot. Finally, we hit Michigan, where Democrats just advanced a measure to have the state add its Electoral College votes to a multistate compact that would elect the president by the national popular vote.
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In an intersection of those issues, Tuberville wasn’t at the Senate on Tuesday. He was at Trump’s Bedminster Golf Club to provide moral support to the twice-indicted walking, talking national security threat. The Senate could have taken advantage of absence, and moved the whole bloc of nominees through with a unanimous consent vote. There are so many of these nominees, there’s simply not enough floor time to have individual votes on every single one of them. That’s why Democrats have been trying for months to get unanimous consent to approve them. Which they could have tried to do Tuesday, at the very least.
But no.
That’s Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin again upholding the “unwritten rules” of the Senate that keep turning him and fellow Democrats into patsies. He says “you don’t take advantage of a person’s absence,” which is pretty much what the Republicans did to his own committee when they refused Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s request that she be temporarily replaced for health reasons.
It’s also just not true. When Sen. Harry Reid was Majority Leader, he broke one of his own senator’s blocks on a nominee. The senator in question was Oregon’s Ron Wyden, who was out on paternity leave because his twins had just been born. That was an obnoxious move on Reid’s part, but it’s also how real leadership works. In the current case, there should be absolutely no niceties observed. This isn’t just on Durbin, it’s also on current Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who needs to review the tape from the days of his former leader.
Not dealing with Tuberville leads to a poser like Vance stepping up to have his own little Freedom Caucus-inspired moment. His is mostly performative because there aren’t nearly as many Justice Department nominees as Defense, but it is still annoying and it makes the Democrats look like saps, again. The Democrats are on the floor arguing regularly that the blockade is endangering national security, but still won’t deal with this—when there are even Republicans on their side trying to get Tuberville to relent.
Democrats are handing the Republican minority veto power again and again on the key thing they can be doing now: getting people nominated. That includes in Durbin’s committee, where he continues to play nice with Republicans on blue slips, inviting them to block Biden nominees. When it comes to standing up to these Republicans they’re failing. They’re letting Senate Republicans turn the place into the House where the nihilists rule.
RELATED STORIES:
Senate Democrats need to start playing hardball
Congressional Black Caucus to Dick Durbin: Do something Republican Tommy Tuberville now single-handedly blocking all top-level military promotions
Sen. Tommy Tuberville's brother rebukes his racist sibling on social media
This week on "The Downballot," we're joined by guest host Joe Sudbay and law professor Quinn Yeargain for a deep dive into major political developments in three states. First up is Arizona, where a key GOP retirement on the Board of Supervisors in jumbo Maricopa County gives Democrats an excellent chance to win their first majority since the 1960s. Then it's on to Arkansas, where citizens are working to overturn a Republican bill that purports to ban "critical race theory" in public schools by qualifying a referendum for the ballot. Finally, we hit Michigan, where Democrats just advanced a measure to have the state add its Electoral College votes to a multistate compact that would elect the president by the national popular vote.
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