Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSenate Democrats' 'Nuclear Options'
Link to tweet
from Harry Reid's (Former) Deputy Chief of Staff at WaPo:
Senate Democrats have the power to stop Trump. All they have to do is use it.
____ Senate Democrats have a powerful tool at their disposal, if they choose to use it, for resisting a president who has no mandate and cannot claim to embody the popular will. That tool lies in the simple but fitting act of withholding consent. An organized effort to do so on the Senate floor can bring the body to its knees and block or severely slow down the agenda of a president who does not represent the majority of Americans.
The procedure for withholding consent is straightforward, but deploying it is tricky. For the Senate to move in a timely fashion on any order of business, it must obtain unanimous support from its members. But if a single senator objects to a consent agreement, McConnell, now majority leader, will be forced to resort to time-consuming procedural steps through the cloture process, which takes four days to confirm nominees and seven days to advance any piece of legislation and thats without amendment votes, each of which can be subjected to a several-day cloture process as well...
Democrats can also withhold their consent from every piece of objectionable legislation McConnell tries to advance. With 48 senators in their caucus, they have the votes to block most bills. But even when Democrats dont have the votes, they can force McConnell to spend time jumping through procedural hoops. This is the insight McConnell deployed against Reid to manufacture the appearance of gridlock, forcing him to use the cloture process more than 600 times.
Finally, Democrats can withhold their consent from Trump until they feel confident that foreign governments are not interfering in our elections. Credible reports hold that U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating whether Trumps campaign cooperated with the Russian government on Vladimir Putins personally directed meddling. Withholding consent from Trumps agenda until an independent, bipartisan probe provides answers is not just reasonable; its responsible. If Democrats withhold consent from everything the Senate does until such a process is established, they can stall Trumps agenda and confirmation of his nominees indefinitely. Sen. Richard Durbin has been a leader in demanding an independent investigation. But unless Democrats back their calls with the threat of action, McConnell will steamroll them and never look back.
read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/01/27/democrats-in-congress-can-block-trumps-agenda-if-they-want-to-heres-how/?postshare=7591485629962430&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.fee3fadfcd27
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
7 replies, 1598 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (14)
ReplyReply to this post
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Senate Democrats' 'Nuclear Options' (Original Post)
bigtree
Feb 2017
OP
SamKnause
(13,110 posts)1. This will not work.
The Republicans will just change the rules, shut down the government,
declare Martial Law, and start WW lll.
Republicans have complete control and they will do anything to keep their power.
bigtree
(86,008 posts)2. neither will this passive aggressive approach
...participation in the process is complicity.
This isn't about policy disagreements anymore. Democrats' participation has already been relegated to mere placemats by changes ALREADY enacted by republicans. Neutered is neutered. There's no utility in standing around like helpless eunuchs.
pbmus
(12,422 posts)4. AMEN...I say AMEN...say it again.. AMEN..