The long Republican filibuster to stop aid to states was defeated today:
President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in the Senate earned a long-sought win Wednesday as a $26 billion measure to help states and local school boards with their severe budget problems cleared a GOP filibuster.
The bill advanced by a 61-38 tally that ensures the measure will pass the Senate on Wednesday or Thursday. It would then return to the House for a final vote that would deliver it to Obama for his signature.
A major development for New Jersey, and no thanks to most national Republicans. Now that the filibuster is defeated, the bill is expected to pass later in the week due to the obscure and little-used Constitutional rule that majorities of the House and Senate can pass a law.
Lautenberg's proposal is more modest. Called the Mr. Smith Bill (Lautenberg brought a cardboard image of Jimmy Stewart from the film to the hearing), the bill would allow the Senate majority leader to call an immediate cloture vote as long as there is no discussion occurring on the Senate floor and the deadline for amendments has passed. This would force filibusters to actually be conducted on the floor -- hence the "Mr. Smith" moniker -- if the opposition wants to take advantage of the two-day "ripening period" before the Senate can vote to end a filibuster...
Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer was enthusiastic about Lautenberg's plan, calling it "ingenious,"
Obviously when your "side" is in the minority the filibuster seems attractive, and both sides have made ample use of it, but there's really no argument that its routine use is a very recent invention, one that has no basis in the Constitution. One expert presented statistics that showed a remarkable change around the 1993-1995 Congress.
Unfortunately, it is pretty disturbing to see that one official believed Lautenberg's proposal was poorly written:
Rybicki had a point to make, and a persuasive one: the Lautenberg and Bennet proposals are too vague. For example, Lautenberg's proposal works by allowing the majority leader to "move the question" on cloture. Rybicki noted that there is no such motion in the Senate rules. It is clear enough what Lautenberg meant, but the bill as written would be hard to implement.
Frankly I can't help but worry that the proposal was never intended to go into effect and is nothing . On the other hand, there's a lot of negotiations ahead so perhaps it's silly to nitpick a proposal at this stage.
I see that once again a handful of Republican Senators are holding up extension of unemployment benefits. We all know that this bill will command more than 60 votes, just like last time, once a vote is allowed. Last time the Senate went into recess, Lautenberg and Menendez made statements of outrage, and after the recess Bunning dropped his hold.
I really hope that this time the Democrats don't allow the Senate to go into recess. Don't tell me it's outrageous when you reward your opponents with a vacation. Show how seriously you take this, and keep the Senate working as long as they hold up the bill!
Update (late Thursday night): The bill is still being held up. McJoan of Dailykos says "they've voted to adjourn for the night, 49-39, though not for recess. The adjournment resolution allows them stay in session through Wednesday if needed." There are reports that Reid and McConnell reached a deal to extend benefits for a week, but the House rejected it.
Second Update (Friday morning): Of course, no deal was reached and the Senate will adjourn anyway. Pathetic. The link has a good discussion of the procedures to overcome the hold.
Update 7:30PM: The WaPo says a deal has been reached and a vote will be held tonight.
Senator Frank Lautenberg sees that Senator Jim Bunning is not acting alone, but has the support of some other Senate Republicans, and he's not afraid to call it a filibuster:
"Construction sites are job sites," stated Lautenberg. "The irresponsible action taken by Senate Republicans is causing critical transportation projects across the country to be shut down. Workers are being sent home without pay and communities are being saddled with inactive projects. With unemployment running high across the country, it is unfathomable that Senate Republicans have targeted American families to pay the price for the political games they are playing in Washington. It is time for Senate Republicans to put people ahead of politics, end this damaging filibuster and let workers get back to work."
Although no final decisions have been made, Democrats confirmed it is increasingly likely that Democrats will force Bunning into an actual filibuster of unemployment insurance extension Tuesday night by repeatedly offering up unanimous consent agreements to bring the bill to a vote.
Although Members often threaten actual filibusters, they rarely materialize. Instead, lawmakers tend to rely on "Cadillac filibusters," essentially stalling procedures that can be used to block legislation without having to actually stay put on the Senate floor.
Democrats on Tuesday signaled they have the resolve to remain in session throughout the night to force Bunning to abandon his cause. The American people "want an end to these games. And I hope that today we'll see the end. If we don't, we're going to have to have a long, long night ahead of us to make the point that it's wrong for one Senator to stop our people, our American people, from getting the help they deserve," Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Tuesday.
Mr. President, I rise in support of the nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit of a distinguished jurist from New Jersey, Judge Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr., which seems to be blocked by some people in this Chamber yet unknown. I know it is not from my side of the aisle because I have checked. So it is on the Republican side of the aisle.
The heart of the speech is:
Our friends on the other side came to the floor in the last administration, the administration of President Bush, on countless occasions to argue for an up-or-down vote. I heard that many times: ``Give us an up-or-down vote,'' demanding that a simple majority of the President's nominees is all that is needed--a simple majority of this Chamber. That is a position diametrically opposed to their position today. In fact, they went so far at that time to proclaim that filibusters of the President's nominations were unconstitutional, and they threatened what became known then as the nuclear option--to undo the right of Senators to filibuster a nominee. Well, which is it? What do my friends on the other side believe is right or is the question: What do they believe will work? Where is the call for an up-or-down vote now from our Republican colleagues? Where is the argument on the unconstitutionality of filibusters now? You can't have it both ways.
We can agree to disagree on some nominees on principle, and we have over the years. But the numbers this year belie any notion that the obstruction of Judge Greenaway and all the pending nominees is purely a matter of principle. In this past year, our Republican colleagues have obstructed virtually all the President's nominees, confirming only 12 Federal circuit and district court nominees, the lowest number in a half century. Let me repeat that: the lowest number in a half century. Contrast that to the 100 judicial nominees confirmed in the 17 months Chairman Leahy chaired the Judiciary Committee during the Bush administration.
The important question, really, is what will Senator Menendez and his colleagues do about it? Greenaway does not even face a real filibuster, he faces "holds" that mean Republicans can threaten to waste huge amounts of the Senate's time on a routine nomination. It's clear that the Senate's rules no longer function and unconstitutional super-majorities are being required for nearly everything and everyone. Vice President Biden with a mere majority of Senators could change this situation once and for all, and while charges of hypocrisy will fly, in the long run both parties will be better off. If a judge or a bill are bad, just get a majority to vote no. Menendez should use the "nuclear option" and end the filibuster. Or at least work weekends and evenings if Republicans insist on unnecessarily adding days of debate.
Last week, the Republicans became so desperate to prevent Congress from addressing the mortgage crisis or funding the war (really!), that they resorted to repeatedly calling for votes to adjourn. And what hard-core right-wingers went along with the call to quit without finishing their job?
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (a coalition of several organizations) have put up videos of a few dozen speakers at a rally outside the Senate on July 17. In the ones of Menendez and Lautenberg, you can see Rep. Holt standing in the background.
(Strong words on Iraq. - promoted by Jay Lassiter)
Blue Jersey's Jay Lassiter interviews Senator Bob Menendez on Iraq. Menendez talks about the current situation, the Republicans' filibuster against ending the war, and calling the families of fallen soldiers and marines.
Most of Jay Lassiter's interview with Senator Menendez will be posted tomorrow, but since this is a breaking news story, we're posting this tonight.
Naturally, part of Jay's conversation with Senator Menendez had to do with Iraq. Among other issues surrounding the war, the Senator gave an explanation of the Levin-Reed Amendment and shared his insight to the Republicans' upcoming filibuster.
(Nice live-blogging by Kire of Lautenberg and Menendez' Senate speeches on Alito in the extended text. - promoted by jmelli)
Check out my live blogging of the Jersey guys (Lautenberg and Menendez) down below. But first:
I heard from someone on DU that his staff was still taking a tally on the filibuster as he was on the floor between 2:40 and 3:00 pm.
The original part of this thread was posted at 1 o'clock about John Kerry, but it has morphed into something completely different. I include that stuff on top just for continuity.
John Kerry was just on the floor from 12:40 to 1:00.
He asked for 15 more minutes, but was granted it only at 2:00 as they were on an hourly minority/majority basis.
So if Kerry takes 15 minutes at 2:00, whoever goes before Lautenberg will go until 2:35 and then Lautenberg will go from 2:35 to 2:55, leaving Menendez only 5 minutes befor the majority gets their hour back.
Do you think that will be enough time for Menendez to make his announcement? I don't.
I'm starting to think Kerry is really just a hog. John in DC and Matt Stoller may be right. Kerry is using the Netroots for his '08 aspirations.
(Egg on my face. This is the self-correcting blogosphere at work. Keep calling!
Update: Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) will be voting against Alito. - promoted by jmelli)
In a previous diary, jmelli claimed that Menendez is supporting the filibuster, citing only Grapevine evidence. In that thread, Bertin Lefkovic wondered where jmelli got that information because it was not verified on Google or anywhere else.
You would think, if this were true, that PoliticsNJ or the Star Ledger would have picked it up by now.
So in a display of the self-correcting nature of the blogosphere, I called Menendez's office just now, 9 am on Monday morning, and asked them. The greeter told me that jmelli is wrong. Menendez is not supporting the filibuster. Yet.
So get on those phones and call him at (202) 224-4744. The time is now!
We hear that Senator Bob Menendez will be supporting an effort to filibuster Alito. Call his office to let him know we're behind him, and call Lautenberg's office to encourage him to join the filibuster.
Sen. Bob Menendez: (202) 224-4744 Sen. Frank Lautenberg: (202) 224-3224
(These are just "rumors on the internets", so take with a spoonful of salt. Earlier today, conservative Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida said he will vote against Alito, so anything is possible. Also, Senator Feingold voted against a Alito - the first time he has voted against a Supreme Court nominee in his career. If Nelson and Feingold can vote against Alito, so can Menendez. Make sure he hears that you expect a filibuster to prevent replacing moderate Justice O'Connor with an extremist. - promoted by jmelli)
From the chair of NJ NOW:
RUMOR HAS IT CLOSE TO FILIBUSTER: WE NEED MENENDEZ:
FORWARD AD NAUSEUM
Please take a few moments of your day TODAY to CALL Senator Menendez's offices. Let him know you expect him to continue his record of supporting women and their families, and that while you know these may be his first two weeks, we need these first two weeks to be his greatest. **Tell his office you expect a filibuster!**
**Leave a message if you can't get through. Each call from you is equal to 10 people who feel that way and didn't call! **
**1. CALL THE WASHINGTON OFFICE:** (202) 224-4744
**2. Call The South Jersey Office** (856) 757-4353
I'd say call Menendez, Lautenberg, Schumer (who's taking a tally) Reid, Feingold, Feinstein and Leahy and ask for a filibuster. Call Snowe, Collins. Congressional switchboard: 800-614-2803 or get individual numbers of gang of 14 at NJ Media Corps
