Senate Democrats' 'Nuclear Options'

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Link to tweet

from Harry Reid's (Former) Deputy Chief of Staff at WaPo:

Senate Democrats have the power to stop Trump. All they have to do is use it.

____ Senate Democrats have a powerful tool at their disposal, if they choose to use it, for resisting a president who has no mandate and cannot claim to embody the popular will. That tool lies in the simple but fitting act of withholding consent. An organized effort to do so on the Senate floor can bring the body to its knees and block or severely slow down the agenda of a president who does not represent the majority of Americans.

The procedure for withholding consent is straightforward, but deploying it is tricky. For the Senate to move in a timely fashion on any order of business, it must obtain unanimous support from its members. But if a single senator objects to a consent agreement, McConnell, now majority leader, will be forced to resort to time-consuming procedural steps through the cloture process, which takes four days to confirm nominees and seven days to advance any piece of legislation — and that’s without amendment votes, each of which can be subjected to a several-day cloture process as well...

Democrats can also withhold their consent from every piece of objectionable legislation McConnell tries to advance. With 48 senators in their caucus, they have the votes to block most bills. But even when Democrats don’t have the votes, they can force McConnell to spend time jumping through procedural hoops. This is the insight McConnell deployed against Reid to manufacture the appearance of gridlock, forcing him to use the cloture process more than 600 times.

Finally, Democrats can withhold their consent from Trump until they feel confident that foreign governments are not interfering in our elections. Credible reports hold that U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating whether Trump’s campaign cooperated with the Russian government on Vladi­mir Putin’s personally directed meddling. Withholding consent from Trump’s agenda until an independent, bipartisan probe provides answers is not just reasonable; it’s responsible. If Democrats withhold consent from everything the Senate does until such a process is established, they can stall Trump’s agenda and confirmation of his nominees indefinitely. Sen. Richard Durbin has been a leader in demanding an independent investigation. But unless Democrats back their calls with the threat of action, McConnell will steamroll them and never look back.

read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/01/27/democrats-in-congress-can-block-trumps-agenda-if-they-want-to-heres-how/?postshare=7591485629962430&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.fee3fadfcd27

[SamKnause]

1. This will not work.

The Republicans will just change the rules, shut down the government,

declare Martial Law, and start WW lll.

Republicans have complete control and they will do anything to keep their power.

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2. neither will this passive aggressive approach

...participation in the process is complicity.

This isn't about policy disagreements anymore. Democrats' participation has already been relegated to mere placemats by changes ALREADY enacted by republicans. Neutered is neutered. There's no utility in standing around like helpless eunuchs.

[pbmus]

4. AMEN...I say AMEN...say it again.. AMEN..

[benld74]

3. DO IT

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5. kick

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6. »

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7. »