Posted on 12/15/2014 10:00:23 AM PST by Dave346
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid pulled out one of his most familiar threats during perhaps his last week as majority leader, pledging to keep the Senate in session through the weekend to get 23 of President Barack Obama’s nominations confirmed and pass bills extending billions in tax breaks and providing terrorism risk insurance to commercial buildings.
The Senate already worked one Saturday this month, so why not another?
While the Nevada Democrat is not yet warning senators that the chamber could work on Christmas, his remarks on Monday morning were clearly aimed at getting Republicans to relent on procedurally fighting him and wrap up the Senate’s business as soon as possible.
Now that Reid has set up votes on nominees including Vivek Murthy to be surgeon general, White House adviser Tony Blinken to be deputy secretary of state, Sarah Saldana to be director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and a dozen lifetime judicial appointments, he is now trying to use the inevitability of their confirmation to speed up the Senate’s work and allow its lame-duck lawmakers to finally join House members and head home for the year.
Though Republicans will take over the Senate in January, as long as Democrats hold the majority and can keep their members in town ahead of the holidays they can unilaterally confirm all these nominees due to last year’s “nuclear option” rules change.
“Everything is scheduled now for moving forward. We could finish it today. So I hope that everyone understands we can move forward but we’re going to be here until we finish our work, whether that’s Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday. So everyone should understand you can’t be leaving,” Reid said.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Yes, the Dems steamrolling liberal picks with a lame duck Dem majority after irregularly installing procedures to allow it to happen.
Meanwhile, McConnell with his new majority is fervently trying to restore procedures allowing Dems to stop all future conservative appointments.
What is wrong with this picture?
“providing terrorism risk insurance to commercial buildings”
Does he know something we don’t.
With sell outs like Boehner and McConnell threats work so what do you expect. Boehner needs his weekend to spend in his tanning bed and McConnell would have the DTs if he had to miss his next martini.
I’m guessing Reid would have much more of an issue keeping his own caucus intact with this. I just don’t see people like Landrieu or Baucus or Pryor hanging around over a few Obama nominees.
So call Reid’s bluff. If enough Dems decide to eff it and go be home with their families there won’t be enough to sustain a quorum in the face of a GOP walkout. Let Harry end his Majority Leadership with being in charge of nothing.
Pure B.S.
Reid was always going to push these nominees through the lame duck session regardless of what any Republicans said or did.
That mealy-mouthed little p*ssant can’t be gone soon enough for me!
I can’t recall offhand what the rules are for adjourning the Senate.
But I’m guessing there are procedural ways to start mucking things up. Repeated quorum calls that require the Dema to maintain a floor majority at all times, opposing unanamous consent to make everthing a rollcall vote, raising lots of points of order, personal priv, etc to just suck up time.
Then start filing motions to adjourn. See how long it takes Dems to start voting in support.
Since Ted Cruz was the Texas Solicitor General and a US Attorney, as well as head of the Bush legal team, I’m pretty sure you’re not referring to him, right?
Yosemite Sam Harry Reid stomping his feet again?
The first thing that the Senate majority should do is reinstate the filibuster for presidential appointments. This will not allow Dems to stop any future conservative appointments. This will, however, allow any 40 Conservatives to stop any future far left wing Obama appointments.
In 2016, if a Conservative is elected President and the Republicans hold on to the Senate, then there is no reason in the world that the Republican majority could not then change the rules again to stop filibusters of presidential appointments. If the Democrats retake the Senate then I guarantee they will change the rules to whatever benefits them.
This is the new Harry Reid Senate Rule. The Majority can unilaterally change the rules whenever they want and however they want.
Well yeah, but this will surely be enough to get the Republicans to cave.
Dirty Harry’s last chance to be relevant.
Harry, Your history Bass Pole!
Let the hearings begin.
Poor little overlords. Might have to put in a full week work fleecing our pockets and installing Marxist bureaucrats.
I bet there isn’t a Senator that sees the sun rise in DC this Thursday.
Cruz.
I do know one thing. The new Congress takes office at 12pm January 3rd.
Until then the lame duck Senate could theoretically stay in session as long as a majority is present.
Soliciter General? US Attorney? Bush Legal team? What does that make him other than a high priced lawyer? What has he ever run as a Chief Executive or Business Owner? Aren’t you tired of high priced lawyers pretending to be whatb they aren’t?
The Solicitor General runs a large agency and is the chief lawyer for the State of Texas. I could tell you about all his successes in that office, but it seems you would poo-poo it all. A US Attorney runs a large office and prosecutes on behalf of the United States. So you don’t like lawyers? Good for you. Do you want a society where no one can be defended in court?
A society without Lawyers? An interesting idea. The problem with the current crop is they control the legislatures and congress and pass laws to perpeturate themselves.
So say the elected elite. Meanwhile the rest of us poor, unbathed, hard working and tax-paying slobs work days, nights, weekends and holidays to pay our bills & taxes and still continue to struggle to make ends meet while Congress complains about having to work a 30 hour work week and an occasional holiday. (Goodness gracious me, of only I could work 30 hrs per week and still rob the tax-payer at $5,000 per hour, with free housing, utilities, transportation, healthcare, insider stock trades, and armed guards on their dime.)”
This nation needs an enema. I suggest we begin by flushing the worthless turds in D.C.
If they don’t bother showing up, he’ll cry.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.