Manu Raju: Murkowski wants to talk to Flake about nominees and Mueller bill.

[pnwmom]

Link to tweet

Manu Raju
✔
@mkraju
Murkowski says she wants to talk to Flake about his effort to block judicial nominees until special counsel bill is taken up in Senate. Susan Collins, however, said: “I’m not sure I see a link between holding up judges and getting a vote on this bill. There may be other ways.”

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12:06 PM - Nov 15, 2018

[PCIntern]

1. Yes, Senator Collins...

what you can do in that horribly raspy voice of yours is tell everyone how concerned you are about the Special Counsel's Office and take all opinions under advisement, and miraculously come up with the notion that all seems well with your political world, thus bringing yourself to the fore once again without having to do the right thing. Ever. and I mean Ever.

What do they have on you?

You are the Designated Decoy...is that it?

(If you never heard the joke, Google "Designated Decoy Joke&quot

[leftieNanner]

3. I believe Susan's husband is a real right winger.

She may leave work with some idea of doing the right thing, but that "pillow talk" takes care of it.

[obamanut2012]

5. Susan Collins has Spasmodic Dysphonia

It is a medical disorder that cannot be regulated in any way -- I know someone with the disorder, and it sucks, because people mock them constantly for how they talk. Just as DUers mock Collins.

We need to mock her for her callowness and her "concern," not for living with a disorder which is considered a disability. We are better than this. We are better tthan Trump.

[PCIntern]

12. Yes she does and you know what?

She supports an individual who, on his way to the Presidency, mocked a handicapped reporter so fuck her and her dysphonia. I don’t give a shit anymore.

[elocs]

13. "We are better than Trump." In this case, no we're not. n/t

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. She told us she'd serve 2 terms.....she lied about that promise.

I believe nothing this woman says. Olympia Snowe was a far better Republican Senator than this woman. She will not survive the next election now that Ranked Choice is election law in Maine.

[leftieNanner]

2. Come on Lisa!

We all know that Susan is useless, but you can do something! You can look back on your tenure in the Senate and maybe find one thing you did right!

[RockRaven]

4. LOL, Murkowski's calling Flake's bluff by offering to be 2nd nay?... well, this could be interesting

but even if they strong-arm McConnell into a vote and it passes, what's the House going to do?

[BigmanPigman]

7. Good question.

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. Yeah, Mueller protection for RW judges....what a choice.

I kinda want to roll the dice and let the 2019 House keep this investigation on the front burner and not buy this bogus quid pro quo.

[MiniMe]

9. The House doesn't vote on judges

[RockRaven]

10. The House's role in what I was talking about was a Mueller protection bill.

It's all just theater unless both houses pass the identical bill, plus either a POTUS sig, 10 days of POTUS inaction, or a veto which then gets over-ridden to become enacted as law.

[MiniMe]

11. OK, I didn't understand that is what you were saying

[pnwmom]

14. Presumably the House GOP also want judges to get voted on in the Senate. n/t

[RockRaven]

15. Yeah, but under Flake's terms he only requires a Senate vote on the bill to cave...

Nowhere did he say this bill must become law, only that McConnell must allow a Senate vote. The House can do absolutely nothing and he cares not. It's an empty offer from the start, when it comes to actually doing something.

And even then Flake probably didn't really want to be put on the spot. So long as he's the only one, he can pretend to be principled without actually causing any harm to Repukes -- so when he then runs for office again he gets the best of both worlds, an independently thinking principled guy who never ever held up any Repuke agenda. Now, if Murkowski actually wants to join him, he either has to back down or piss off GOP insiders. Whoops!

[pnwmom]

16. good points!

[Chasing Dreams]

17. The Senate vote is an early impeachment indicator

Are you for the rule of law or not? That's why McConnell's fighting it, so the R caucus doesn't have to go on the record any time soon.

[RockRaven]

18. It matters not the slightest how much I love the rule of law, it is basic School House Rock sh*t

for a bill to become a law, it must pass both houses of Congress (never mind the POTUS signature/over-ridden veto part). Any "brave hero" demanding a bill passed in ONE house is merely posturing unless there is a realistic path for the bill to pass in the other chamber.

DO YOU THINK HOUSE GOPERS WILL VOTE FOR THIS? Honestly?

Will Paul Ryan bring it to the floor for a vote during the lame duck session as he and many others are on their way out the door (i.e. looking for lobbying/consulting/board-of-directors gigs with GOP insiders/corporatists/elitists)? WAKE UP.

JEFF FLAKE IS PLAYING GAMES.

[Chasing Dreams]

19. You didn't get my point, perhaps I was too cryptic

There is nothing in my post about the bill going to the House for a vote, Ryan taking it up, etc. I agree with you, that's folly. This isn't going to the House for a vote this term (although it is possible that the next Democratic House could take up the bill in January).

And Flake might indeed be playing games. I have no idea.

The only rational reasons for even demanding a vote are to (a) make himself look good, or (b) force his colleagues to go on the record for or against Mueller. The latter happens all the time, it's politics. So before you attack me, maybe you might think about why Flake wants to force R Senators to go on the record with this vote.