RULE VI
QUORUM—ABSENT SENATORS MAY BE SENT FOR
1. A quorum shall consist of a majority of the Senators
duly chosen and sworn.
2. No Senator shall absent himself from the service of
the Senate without leave.
3. If, at any time during the daily sessions of the Senate, a question shall be raised by any Senator as to the presence of a quorum, the Presiding Officer shall forthwith direct the Secretary to call the roll and shall announce the result, and these proceedings shall be without debate.
4. Whenever upon such roll call it shall be ascertained
that a quorum is not present, a majority of the Senators
present may direct the Sergeant at Arms to request, and,
when necessary, to compel the attendance of the absent
Senators, which order shall be determined without debate;
and pending its execution, and until a quorum shall be
present, no debate nor motion, except to adjourn, or to recess pursuant to a previous order entered by unanimous
consent, shall be in order.
From “STANDING RULES OF THE SENATE”
Looks like Chaney, the President of the Senate, is going to have some fun next weekend.
Just how many senators are out on the campaign trail right now?
Looking at their own RULE 2 - have they taken leave to campaign?
Makes a guy wonder what those rules are there for???
(besides to be broken)
“4. Whenever upon such roll call it shall be ascertained
that a quorum is not present, a majority of the Senators
present may direct the Sergeant at Arms to request, and,
when necessary, to compel the attendance of the absent
Senators, which order shall be determined without debate;
and pending its execution, and until a quorum shall be
present, no debate nor motion, except to adjourn, or to recess pursuant to a previous order entered by unanimous
consent, shall be in order.”
OK. Let’s say President Bush notifies that little punk Reid that he is going to make recess appointments.....not idenfying anyone by name. Dingy scrambes his staff and the Sergeant at Arms and summons the troops back to the Capitol. Meanwhile, as soon as President Bush hangs up the phone after notifying Reid of the recess appointments, he boards Air Force One and heads for Crawford. Once the senate has finally returned to Washington, President Bush may just decide not to make any appointments and not notify Reid.
Perhaps the same thing might occur over the Christmas break, but Air Force One may head to Crawford without the President on board in the event members of the senate turn off their pagers to prevent being recalled to Washington.
Of course, with a few exceptions, the administration could make its intentions known to the Republican members of the senate. The possibilities are endless.
Reid has to remember that if you want to play games, remember who owns the ball.
EODGUY