McConnell blocks bill to temporarily reopen DHS
Source: the hill
By Jordain Carney - 01/22/19 03:41 PM EST
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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) tried to take up the House bill, which would fund the department through Feb. 8.
McConnell, however, objected. Under Senate rules any one member can try to pass a bill, but any one member can also block that request.
McConnell has said for weeks that he wont take up the House legislation, arguing it would be a show vote because President Trump wont sign the bill.
Instead, the GOP leader is expected to hold a procedural vote Thursday that would trade $5.7 billion for wall funding in exchange for a three-year extension of legal protections for some immigrants.
"The opportunity to end all this is staring us right in the face. That's why we'll vote on this legislation on the Senate floor this week. All that needs to happen is for our Democratic colleagues to agree that it's time to put the country ahead of politics, take yes for an answer and vote to put this standoff behind us," McConnell said from the Senate floor earlier on Tuesday. ....................................
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/426465-mcconnell-blocks-bill-to-temporarily-reopen-dhs
Link to tweet
🏳️?🌈🐱
? @mouecat
41m41 minutes ago
Replying to @thehill
Why does @senatemajldr hate Homeland Security so much? Is the USA not worth protecting?
1 reply 2 retweets 11 likes
1 more reply
Private Intoxication
🌊
? @PrivIntox
40m40 minutes ago
Replying to @thehill
Because securing our borders is an "emergency."
0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
Paul Wu-Tang Clan
🌊
? @PaulWuster
41m41 minutes ago
Replying to @thehill
The reason being, you see, that there's a crisis at the border. Or something.
0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
Erik M.
? @Minnesotanice76
41m41 minutes ago
Replying to @thehill
Country before party. Right Mitch?
spooky3
(34,303 posts)and that Pelosi does also. So stop pretending that Trump's support is necessary. The truth is that you don't want to let these bills come to a vote.
onenote
(42,383 posts)20 Republican Senators that would vote to override Trump.
And who are the 55 Republicans in the House that would vote to override Trump?
Inquiring minds want to know?
BumRushDaShow
(127,314 posts)by unanimous consent. Of course there was a net 2 loss of Democrats in what became the 116th Senate, post-election, but I think the P.R. machine has been pushed to ask why they would suddenly reverse themselves and object to something that they "all" agreed to just a month ago - particularly if it was only a C.R. and not even a full FY of funding.
Politics.
spooky3
(34,303 posts)onenote
(42,383 posts)When they thought Trump was on board, they voted for a short term re-opening of the government without any wall funding. But that vote went out the door when Trump reversed course.
There aren't 20 Repub Senators who would vote to override a Trump veto. Hell, I doubt there are 20 Repub Senators that would vote to pass another short term funding bill without wall funding.
BumRushDaShow
(127,314 posts)and they are sticking with it!
I expect that even with the teabagger caucus running amok, they could have gone on and passed it in the House with Democratic votes and let the chips fall where they may - especially since it was ONLY a CR that ended on that same February 8th date. In fact their original CR could have gone until February 8th instead of December 7th.
The GOP have pretty much implemented a new way of conducting what is essentially dysfunctional business where they will not even allow bills to reach a President for signature OR veto... I.e., they are now limiting the options to only be for "signature". It's like some sort of bizarre offshoot of their "Hastert Rule" nonsense ("majority of the majority" ).
onenote
(42,383 posts)The CR that passed the Senate in December went until February 8. Not sure what "instead of December 7" refers to.
And after Trump reversed himself, the Repubs amended the Senate bill to add the wall and passed it. Since then, in the new Congress, unlike the Senate where there haven't been any votes on re-opening the government, the House has had several votes on several different proposals and not one has come close to getting enough republican support to override a veto.
So exactly how is it the repubs "story"? If there are 55 votes to override a Trump veto, why aren't any where near that number of Repubs supporting the Democrats bills in the House?
BumRushDaShow
(127,314 posts)I suppose you missed the earlier CR that was passed by September 26 and signed on September 28.
That CR (which included the full funding for only a handful of departments) was passed by BOTH chambers by veto-proof majorities - 92-5 in the Senate and 361-61 in the House. The opportunity was there to let the CR go through to February 8 instead of December 7 and let him veto it.
onenote
(42,383 posts)No, I didn't miss the earlier CR. I just can't fathom how its relevant to the issue of whether a veto proof majority currently exists in the House and Senate for a bill that would open the government, either on a short term (February 8) basis or a long term (end of September 2019) basis.
The September short term extension until December 7 passed with veto-proof majorities only after Trump had indicated that he would sign it. It is speculative as to what the vote would have been had he not sent that signal. Moreover, its speculative (and implausible) that he would have agreed to the short term extension if it went until February 8 instead of December 7.
Furthermore, when the December 7 deadline was approaching, a two week extension was passed with solid Republican support and nearly solid Democratic opposition. Again, there is no reason to think that Trump and the Republicans would have supported a longer extension at that time.
The mistake you and others make is assuming that Trump signed extensions because they had strong Republican support. In fact, these bills had strong Republican support because Trump had indicated first that he was willing to sign them. That's why the Senate approved the December 17 extension by a voice vote and why the House, after Trump pulled the rug out on everyone, ended up passing a version of the Senate extension that added in wall funding. McConnell probably had a majority that would have voted for that version of the Senate bill, but didn't bother to bring it up because he knew the Democrats would refuse to support cloture.
Bottom line: there isn't a veto-proof majority for re-opening the government without wall funding today and there has never been a real opportunity to keep the government open through February 8 without wall funding because Trump has never supported it (or to the extent he briefly supported it, he flipped after Coulter and Limbaugh squeezed his balls and the House Republicans, in order to protect their balls, added wall funding as a condition for a February 8 extension).
BumRushDaShow
(127,314 posts)-AND-
The excuse of "He's not going to sign it" is bullshit. Let regular order prevail. Let the votes happen and if he vetoes it, then so be it. Ryan had no skin in that game and should have let the vote go as a clean CR.
Per the Senate's own website, Reagan vetoed 78 bills. But what has happened now is that nothing even makes it to the President's desk unless he is guaranteed to sign it and we shouldn't just throw up our hands and bemoan about how that is the way things are and should be....
Which is why my first argument about the "P.R. machine" to demand that votes be taken. This is apparently finally starting to happen. The GOP has put itself in a tenuous position in an effort to save face by blocking any type of vote not "pre-approved" by the WH and then pointing to Democrats as being at fault for blocking the voting. The GOP could have done one more push by making that September CR go to February, which would have actually made the SOTU a non-issue. Now they are in an even deeper bind by creating yet another drama that takes news cycles away from their fearless leader.
DRoseDARs
(6,810 posts)My shocked face. (-_-)
bdamomma
(63,658 posts)the wall this is about taking down the Government. The heat needs to put on McConnell. Period
And McConnell is trying to protect his own ass regarding Russian money he received. Period.
bluestarone
(16,722 posts)I've said before it's McTurtleface!!!! Gotta STOP him!!!
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)Boy the Russians have something on you, you pathetic weak coward... you are a traitor.
Response to riversedge (Original post)
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maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)Welcome to DU.
Botany
(70,291 posts)... Trump/Russia/GOP/NRA will not come out? Mitch acts like he is a one person
government and voting/Democracy/the laws be damned.
LoisB
(7,079 posts)need DHS to be in tippy-top shape?
Ollie Garkie
(184 posts)Republicans are strong on national security. We know because they wouldn't shut up about it for a decade after 9/11
Bengus81
(6,907 posts)to re open Government?? Jesus...how long is he going to get away with that LIE and the continual SCREWING of 800k Fed workers??