Monday, November 26, 2007

Lott To Resign, Effective Sometime Before Jan. 1, 2008

In a surprising announcement, Mississippi senator Trent Lott, the No.2 Republican in the Senate, will resign his position as a U.S senator, effective sometime before Jan. 1, 2008.

Lott was just re-elected in 2006, meaning his term would have run through 2012. Reports indicate that Lott is resigning for no other reason than to pursue other opportunities. It is natural to speculate that Lott is interested in becoming a Washington lobbyist. New Senate ethics rules effective Jan. 1, 2008 require retiring senators to undergo a two-year "cooling off period" before returning to Washington as a lobbyist. The current Senate rule requires only a one-year hiatus. Is it reasonable to speculate that this change of law had an effect on his decision to resign before the dawn of the new year.

One-time majority leader of the Senate, Lott engineered his own demise by remarking at a Strom Thurmond 100th-birthday tribute that, "If the rest of the country had followed [Strom's] lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years either."

Thurmond opposed civil rights advances for minorities in the segregated South during his years as a senator from South Carolina and as a 1948 segregationist candidate for president. Lott boasted that his state voted for Thurmond that year.

Yet, Lott bounced back in 2006 by capturing the minority whip position, elevating him to the No. 2 Republican spot in the Senate. Lott's fellow senators elected him to this position, preferring him to Lamar Alexander (TN).

Lott would be the first to tell you, though, that he doesn't very much like playing second fiddle.

Perhaps Lott has found a better means than the U.S. Senate to address post-Katrina problems in his home state. Lott was angered by the White House's pathetic response to the disaster that ruined a large portion of his state, not to mention his own vacation home in Pascagoula.

Mississippi governor Haley Barbour will appoint a replacement for Lott. That interim senator will have to face re-election in November 2008 at the latest. There is currently a movement underway in Mississippi to interpret the law as requiring that an interim senator face a special election within 90 days of appointment.

The Republicans in the Senate will further have to elect a new minority whip. It appears that Jon Kyl (AZ) has got that spot locked up. Kyl's rise to No. 2 in the minority leaves a vacancy in the No. 3 spot, chair of the Republican senate conference. Senators interested in nabbing that vacancy include Richard Burr (NC) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX).

Friday, November 23, 2007

Senate Holds Pro Forma Sessions in Effort to Thwart Bush Recess Appointments

For instance, the Senate is convening today, November 23, 2007 at 10:00 for a pro forma session. According to the official Senate glossary, a pro forma session is a brief meeting (sometimes only several seconds) of the Senate in which no business is conducted. It is held usually to satisfy the constitutional obligation that neither chamber can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other.

In this case, the session is not being held merely because the Senate could not obtain the consent of the House of Representatives in order to adjourn for more than three days. Had Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) asked for such consent, surely he would have gotten it.

Instead, the Senate is holding these pro forma sessions in order to thwart any effort by President George W. Bush to appoint judges or executive agency officials without having them subjected to the Senate's constitutional role of advice and consent of those appointees (i.e. confirmation). With Attorney General Michael Mukasey already confirmed, there aren't any high-profile appointees awating Senate confirmation but Reid must suspect that Bush has a judge or two he wishes to see on the bench before his presidency runs out. Otherwise, the Senate wouldn't go to this trouble. Bear in mind that a recess appointee can serve only until the end of the Congress during which he was appointed via recess. In this case, the 110th Congress does not conclude until Jan. 1, 2009.

The Senate held a pro forma session identical to today's on Tuesday, Nov. 20th. More pro forma sessions are scheduled for Nov. 27th and Nov. 29th.

At least one senator must be present in the chamber to convene the pro forma session. On Tuesday, it was Jim Webb (VA), who lives only minutes from the Capitol.

The Constitution gives the President the power to make recess appointments. The shortest-known recess during which a President made a recess appointment was ten days. Reid has scheduled these pro forma sessions to occur within no less than three days of each other. Technically, the Senate is not on recess, but is adjourning at the end of each pro forma session.

It would be a mighty bold move for a President to claim to appoint someone during a "recess" when the Senate itself has not recessed according to the terms of a motion to recess. Likewise, it would be unprecedented for a President to appoint a nominee during an adjournment of less than three days.

That said, it is clear that these pro forma sessions are merely form over substance. A President whose nominees were repeatedly stifled could argue that a series of pro forma sessions conducted over a two-week span entails a recess. Let's hope we don't have to walk down that constitutional path.

The Senate does not return to floor business until Monday, December 3.

On Dec. 3, the Senate will convene at 14:00 and will proceed to a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. There will be no roll call votes during Monday's session.

The December session is usually the best of the year.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Most recent budget resolution FY 2008 was part of Defense spending conference report


According to the continuing budget resolution (CBR) passed on Sept. 27, 2007 the government would shut down at midnight tonight unless Congress enacted all of the necessary budgets or unless it passed another CBR.

Unable to find that Congress passed such a CBR, I was seriously pondering a government shutdown until I read that a CBR continuing to fund the government for another month (until Dec. 14, 2007) was tucked away in the only appropriations bill that our government has managed to make law this year, the Defense Department Appropriations Bill FY 2008. More specifically, the CBR was slipped into the Defense '08 conference report. The Senate agreed to the conference report in a voice vote on November 8, 2007.

In summary, Congress passed a continuing budget resolution for FY 2008 by attaching the budget resolution to the Defense FY 2008 appropriations conference report, which President Bush signed into law on November 13, 2007. The resolution continues to fund the government until December 14, 2007.

November 16, 2007:  For Iraq, $70b or $50b?; Farm bill cloture vote tests Republican filibuster

[9:04]
Tom Harkin (IA) says, Hey if we vote for cloture that still leaves us 30 hours of debate and I promise you that in those 30 hours we can vote on as many germane amendments to the bill as you want. However, if you want to vote on immigration, do it on some other bill. If this cloture vote fails, says Harkin, we will not have a new farm bill this year.

[9:02]
Saxby Chambliss (GA), who voted for the farm bill in committee, is voicing his opposition to today's cloture motion to limit debate on the very same bill. He is making clear that his "nay" vote on cloture is a direct response to the majority's decision to shut down the normal amendment process on the bill. If we had started our usual deliberative process last Tuesday when we began work on this bill, we would be done with it by now.

Precap:

There are going to be three votes this morning, two on Iraq. First, a cloture vote on a motion to proceed to S. 2340, which is a Republican response to the House-passed Iraq supplementary, H.R. 4156. The Republican version of the supplementary appropriates $70b for FY 2008 Iraq. Unlike H.R. 4156, it is devoid of timetables.

The second vote is for cloture on a motion to proceed to consideration of H.R. 4156, the House-passed Iraq supplementary bill. In the amount of $50b for FY 2008, it sets timetable "goals" for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. To clarify, it does not set mandatory withdrawal guidelines, only goals. Senators Carl Levin (MI) and Harry Reid (NV) have indicated that the bill is not tough enough for them, but that they will support it. The bill passed narrowly in the House, 218-203. That's pretty close.

The third vote is for cloture on the farm bill. It needs 60 votes to pass. If it does pass, it limits debate on the farm bill. The vote will test the Republican filibuster. Right now Saxby Chambliss (GA) is encouraging his fellow senators to vote against cloture in response to Reid's filling of the amendment tree on the bill. If we can't amend it, says the minority, we will not let it proceed.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Thursday, November 15, 2007: Senate is in gridlock, with farm bill, AMT fix, and transportation conference report all stalled

[19:13]
Reid has been speaking on the floor for about a half hour. He has been talking about Iraq, painting in the most bleak tones possible. It was his intro to introducing two Iraq bills to the Senate. One is a Feingold/Reed bill calling for a troop withdrawl. The second is the so-called "bridge" bill, the $50b Iraq supplementary spending bill that the House passed earlier this week. Reid says that the bill is not nearly tough enough for him (on Iraq policy) but that he would support it. Reid just introduced a cloture motion for the bill. This would allow a cloture vote on the $50b Iraq supplementary, which sets out timelines for troop withdrawals, as soon as the Tueday after senators return from the Thanksgiving recess (i.e. Nov. 27).

In closing Reid said that there would be a vote on the farm bill tomorrow morning. He says that his friends on the other side of the aisle are very close to bringing the bill down. If cloture is not invoked says Reid, it could be a long time before the Senate returns to consideration of the Farm Bill.

[18:13]
As for the farm bill, its floor manager Tom Harkin (IA) said today that new farm legislation might have to wait until after the 2008 elections to pass the Senate. Harkin suggested that if tomorrow's farm bill cloture vote fails — which is likely — the Senate should instead consider passing a one year extension of current farm legislation.

Republicans, many of whom support the farm bill, have nonetheless banded together in a protest filibuster in response to majority leader Reid's decision to shut down the amendment process on the bill.

[18:09]
Max Baucus (MT), chairman of the Finance Committee, laments the minority's objection to the AMT fix proposed by the majority. He wonders if it'll take the Senate until Christmas to pass an AMT fixer.

[18:01]
Reid just propounded a unanimous consent request (UC) to move to a vote on a bill enacting a 1-year AMT patch along with other measures extending certain tax cuts for two years. The UC also provided for votes on several amendments to the bill.

McConnell objects to this UC, stating that the Democrats' AMT fix is coupled with tax increases that the minority won't support.

Reid responds. We Democrats believe things must be paid for. Reid then objects to a minority UC. So no votes on an AMT fix just yet.

[17:57]
In news characteristic of action in the Senate this time of year, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations FY 2008 conference report has hit a snag in the Senate. According to Majority Leader Reid, there is a Republican senator objecting to the Senate holding a vote on the conference report.

The House has passed the conference report. It is unusual that a conference report hit a snag in this fashion, where one senator can prevent it from coming to a vote.

[15:44]
The Senate is in a quorum call.

Precap:

The Senate convenes at 9:30. Pending business is still technically the Farm Bill. Reid has scheduled a cloture vote on the farm bill for Friday. The Senate doesn't usually hold votes on Friday but the Senate's Thanksgiving recess is scheduled to begin at close of business Friday, meaning that today and tomorrow could be hectic.

It is unlikely that Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) can find sixty senators to vote for cloture on the bill. Although plenty of Republicans have voiced support for the bill, they appear to have banded together in a filibuster of the bill in response to Reid's decision to "fill the tree," a parliamentary tactic that shuts down the otherwise open amendment process.

To indicate just how strong the Republican bloc is, Byron Dorgan (ND) asked Reid not to subject the Dorgan/Grassley amendment on safety-net payment caps to a cloture vote at this time. Dorgan did not believe it could get 60 votes despite being co-sponsored by the Republican Grassley.

Reid filled the tree because he believed the amendment process on the bill would take too long. Republicans wanted to offer amendments on "non-germane" issues such as immigration and the estate tax. Fearing the bill would get bogged down in age-old partisan debate, Reid shut down the floor to amendments. Arguably, this move backfired.

As Sam Brownback (KS) noted yesterday, "We've been working on this bill for 10 days and we still haven't had one vote on it." In other words, maybe if we had started to go through these amendments ten days ago we'd be through them by now. Of course, it's hard to ask senators to vote on days that aren't in the middle of the week.

Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) discussed the impasse on the floor yesterday. They seemed to reach a tiny agreement that would allow each side to come up with a list of perhaps five amendments to be voted upon. Whether this agreement will be the end of the impasse is unclear. We'll find out today or tomorrow. The real test is with tomorrow's cloture vote.

In yesterday's eye-opening 95-0 vote reauthorizing the Head Start programs, the presidential candidates were all absent. That vote shows you how quickly Congress can move when there is broad support for a bill. The House passed the conference report early in the afternoon and the Senate was passing the same conference report within hours.

The Senate could start work on a bill to change housing laws in response to the subprime and foreclosure mess. The Senate also needs to pass a continuing budget resolution (CBR) to fund the government at current levels in lieu of FY 2008 budgets for each individual government agency. The current CBR expires at midnight Nov. 16.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Wednesday, November 14, 2007:  Farm Bill is stalled;
No votes on it today or tomorrow


[17:20]
No more roll call votes today. The Farm Bill is stalled.

[17:19]
Sam Brownback (KS) wonders why the Senate doesn't just start voting on amendments. His point is: "OK, we've shut down the open amendment process because we're afraid that it'll take too long to get this bill done if senators can offer amendments on any issue. But we've been on this bill now for ten days and we haven't had one roll call vote so why not just forge ahead and start voting?"

[17:13]
The Farm Bill is stalled in the Senate because senators cannot reach an agreement about how many amendments they can offer to the bill. Reid last week shut down the amendment process by "filling the tree" because he feared that Republicans would offer a litany of non-germane amendments including amendments on immigration and the estate tax.

Republicans have responded with enough votes (41) to filibuster any further procedures on the bill.

Reid and Mitch McConnell (KY) are on the floor now engaged in some back and forth. McConnell wants Reid to take the tree down. Reid says he's not ready to do that just yet. Reid says, Send us five amendments that you really want.

They are now agreeing to have each side put forth a "serious" list of amendments to work from and maybe get some progress on the bill. Those amendments would then be subject to second-degree amendment.

Reid sent a cloture motion on the bill to the desk just fifteen minutes ago. That means a cloture vote on the bill is possible on Friday. However, when Reid sent that motion to the desk, it sounded like the Dorgan/Grassley amendment would not be subjected to a cloture vote, apparently because there weren't enough votes for it to pass a cloture test.

Right now, though, it's clear that this farm bill is not going to get done before the Thanksgiving recess.


[16:00]
The Senate passed 95-0 a Head Start reauthorization bill.

[15:07]
The Senate is on recess until 15:30.

Precap:

The Senate convenes at 9:30 for an early start on the Farm Bill. Senators have offered over 100 amendments to the bill but recall that Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) "filled the tree" on the bill last week, meaning that further amendments to the bill cannot be voted upon unless Reid opens the tree. Reid used a Grassley/Dorgan amendment, No. 3508, along with some other sham amendments, to fill the tree (check out senate amendments 3509 to 3514, all of which Reid offered to "change the enactment date" of the bill).

So, the Grassley/Dorgan amendment, as of right now, is the only farm bill amendment that is going to receive a vote. That vote could occur today. The amendment puts a price cap on so-called "safety net" farm payments. It also institutes certain eligibility requirements for potential recipients of these safety-net payments, namely that a recipient has to be "actively engaged in farming with respect to the farming operation." The safety net payments are like an insurance payout, payable in theory to those farmers who have taken a hit in the pocketbook due to bad weather or world events.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Tuesday, November 13, 2007: Hutchison pleas for Senate to pass Veterans' Bill; Elsewhere, some AMT talk


[20:01]
The Senate just adjourned until 9:30 tomorrow morning. Maybe some votes on Farm Bill amendments tomorrow. There are over 100 but how many will actually come to a vote?

[20:00]
Saxby Chambliss (GA) just said that they would start voting on amendments to the farm bill in the morning.

The Senate is about to close, says Reid.

[19:04]
Tom Harkin (IA) has been talking about the farm bill for a long time. There haven't been any votes.

[14:14]
The Senate is on lunch recess but it should be back shortly.

[11:01]

Veterans' Bill is Stalled

Several senators have given speeches on the floor this morning. Most notably, Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) pleaded with Senate leadership to bring the Veteran Affairs '08 appropriations conference report to a final vote on the floor of the Senate. Earlier this year, the Senate passed its version of the VA bill. Subsequently, the Senate and the House agreed to a final version of the bill in conference (i.e. the conference report).

Instead of simply voting on that conference report, Senate leadership last week awkwardly attached the VA conference report to the Health and Labor Appropriations '08 conference report, resulting in a defeat of the bulky, omnibus package. Senate leadership figured it was the only way to get the President to sign off on the massive Health and Labor spending bill. But Hutchison raised a point of order, essentially arguing that the gluing together of the two bills was a violation of Senate budget rules. When a senator raises a point of order, 60 senators must vote to waive the point of order. But there weren't sixty senators willing to waive the point of order to the whole thing fell apart like a rickety rickshaw.

Now the VA bill is back on its lonesome wondering what's going to happen next. Undoubtedly Reid & Co. are going to try to graft it onto some other hapless, veto-bound piece of legislation. If nothing works out, though, Reid will eventually relent and allow the VA bill to pass the Senate before Christmas so that Bush can sign off on it.

[10:12]

Senate confirms Dow

The Senate has gotten right down to business, voting on the confirmation of Robert M. Dow Jr. to be a federal district court judge for the northern district of Illinois. This is not a controversial nomination. Dick Durbin (IL) just spoke in support of Dow. The Senate will confirm him and then move into a period of morning business. Byron Dorgan (ND) will speak about the Farm Bill.

Indeed, the Senate confirmed Dow 86-0.

[10:04]
Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) says that he will be talking to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) this morning to determine what will happen in the Senate for the rest of this week. Reid is probably referring to whether there will be any progress on finishing the farm bill. Reid mentioned that there is a lot of work to be done this week and he hopes "that it doesn't spill into next week." The Senate is supposed to begin a Thanksgiving Recess at the close of business Friday.

AMT Talk

Now McConnell is talking about the urgent need to pass an Alternative Minimum Tax fix. McConnell says that if the Democratic proposal is an AMT tax cut cloaked in a bunch of tax hikes that such a bill is "dead on arrival in the Senate."

Reid responds. Hey, we are paying for our legislation now in this Congress. We are going to fix the AMT by the end of the year but "we're gonna do it the right way, we're gonna pay for it."

There is no dispute that the AMT needs to be fixed i.e. scaled back by April 15th. It is becoming an enormous burden for more and more middle class families.

However, under "pay-go" when Congress passes legislation that spends new money or cuts a current revenue stream, that loss of money in turn must be made up by cutting other spending or finding new revenue. So, Democrats would stifle the virulent AMT but they would raise other taxes to pay for the AMT cut. What taxes senators would raise is unclear. Republicans should have the 41 votes they need to filibuster any proposal that does not represent a true compromise. Recall that there are 49 Republican senators. Eight could defect and the filibuster would still remain in place.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Monday, Nov. 12, 2007: Senate Holiday in Observance of Veterans' Day


The Senate remains on recess until 10:00 Tuesday.

Tomorrow at 10:00, the Senate will proceed to consider the nomination of Robert M. Dow, Jr., to be a U.S. District Judge. At 10:10, the Senate will proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination.

Following the vote, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 12:30, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each and the time equally divided between the two Leaders or their designees. The Republicans will control the first half and the Majority will control the final half. Senator Byron Dorgan (ND) will control up to 30 minutes of the Majority's time.

At 12:30, the Senate will stand in recess until 2:15 for the respective party conference meetings.

There should be a cloture vote on the Farm Bill sometime this week.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Senate Confirms Mukasey in a 53-40 Vote


Interestingly, there was not a procedural vote on the Mukasey nomination for Attorney General. It appears that Mukasey could not have garnered 60 votes to bring debate to a close. However, no senator forced such a vote.

In a straight up-or-down vote late last night on the floor of the Senate, 53 senators voted to confirm the nominee while 40 voted against confirmation. All voting Republicans supported the nomination.

Seven Democrats voted in favor of the nomination. They are: Evan Bayh (IN), Tom Carper (DE), Mary Landrieu (LA), Joe Lieberman (CT), Ben Nelson (NE), Dianne Feinstein (CA), and Chuck Schumer (NY).

How did our presidential candidates vote on the nomination? Easy — they didn't! Clinton (NY), Obama (IL), Biden (DE), Dodd (CT), and McCain (AZ) all had better things to do than vote yea or nay on the nation's new Attorney General, Michael Mukasey.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

November 8, 2007:  Senate Will Vote on Mukasey Tonight; In earlier action, Senate makes Bush veto override official

[19:57]
The Senate is going to vote on Michael Mukasey's confirmation for Attorney General tonight.

Arlen Specter (PA), ranking member of the judiciary committee, spoke minutes ago in favor of the nomination, noting that despite Mukasey's shortcomings on the waterboarding question, Mukasey has made clear that he believes in the right of habeas corpus. Specter contrasted Mukasey with the prior attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, whose reading of the Constitution frustrated the "plain language" of the document.

Patrick Leahy (VT), chairman of the judiciary committee, is now speaking against the Mukasey nomination, basing his opposition squarely on the question of torture. For Leahy, the issue is whether or not our country is one that will torture people. Are we a country that will ship captives to Syria for torture? he asks.

Leahy notes that the State Dept. has instructed its employees to refuse to admit that the waterboarding of an American soldier would amount to torture. Can you imagine that? says Leahy. He says that Mukasey sidestepped the question when asked if a foreign country's waterboarding of an American soldier would be "an abuse."

Resist the temptation "just this once, just this once" to overlook the fact that waterboarding is torture, he says.

Earlier Today

The Senate made a water resources bill law when it voted 79-14 to override a Bush veto of the bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) remarked as the awesomeness of the bill becoming law the second that the result of the vote was announced on the floor of the Senate.

Only two Democrats voted against the bill, Claire McCaskill (MO) and Russ Feingold (WI). This duo has consistently sided with Republicans this year in voting against federal spending projects. It was a rare federal projects bill that won support from Kit Bond (MO) but didn't get McCaskill's vote. Being a Missouri denizen, I am guessing that McCaskill was particularly opposed to some of the projects in the bill concerning Army Corps projects affecting the rivers of Missouri.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

November 7, 2007:  With Farm Bill on Hold, Republicans Rough Up the Health and Labor Conference Report


[18:58]
The Senate has adjourned. It will begin its day tomorrow morning at 9:45. At that time it will resume consideration of Bush's veto of the water resources bill. A veto override vote will follow shortly.

[18:09]
Senators are speaking in favor of various projects contained in the water resources bill that Bush vetoed last week. Louisiana, the Everglades, Missouri's Rivers. The Senate will vote later tonight to override the veto. The vote will succeed.

[17:08]
There was just a funny moment on the floor. Majority Leader Reid took to the podium asking that the quorum call be terminated. Ken Salazar (CO), sitting as president pro tem, replied, "The Senate is not in a quorum call."

Reid said, "We're not? That's good news." That brought some chuckles. Then he suggested the absence of a quorum, which initiates a quorum call. Seconds later he asked unanimous consent that the quorum call be terminated. And someone objected! Everyone laughed, including Salazar. This kind of levity is not real common in the Senate.

Reid went on to say that the Senate might vote tonight to override the President's veto of the water resources bill. The House voted yesterday overwhelmingly to override the veto. If the override vote gets 2/3 of senators present, you will have your first George W. Bush veto override.

[17:00]

Coburn Trips Up Woodstock Funding

In an unusual occurrence, the Senate is now voting on a Tom Coburn (OK) amendment to the Health, Labor and Education Conference Report that would remove from the bill an earmark devoting money for the creation of a Woodstock Museum in New York. Recall that the conference report is the compromise bill that conferees from the House and Senate agree to once each house has passed a version of the bill. It is unusual for the Senate to vote on amendments to a conference report. Usually, there is just one up or down vote on a conference report. And, it's usually agreed to quickly. When the Senate amends a conference report, the amended version of the report then has to go back to the House and the House has to vote on the "new" version of the conference report.

So, the question is whether or not to remove the Woodstock funding from the bill.

Result: 56 ayes to 37 nays, the motion to amend is agreed to. Coburn sends the Woodstock Museum up in smoke. The ayes were mostly Republicans but a good number of Democrats joined in to cut the spending from the bill.

[16:35]

Hutchison Point of Order Undoes Attachment of VA bill to Health and Labor Spending

Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) offered a point of order to strike the VA appropriations package from the Labor, Health, and Education appropriations conference report. Congressional leaders had glued the separate bills together in hopes of saving the Health and Labor bill from a presidential veto.

The Senate was due to vote on the omnibus package today. This point of order is a procedural challenge to the attachment of the VA package to the Labor and Health package.

In turn, Tom Harkin (IA) has moved to waive the point of order. The senators are now voting on Harkin's motion to waive the point of order (i.e. to allow the package to progress despite Senate and budgetary rules preventing the marriage of such pieces of legislation). It takes 60 aye votes to waive the point of order. There are not 60 votes to waive the point of order. Thus, this awkward gluing of the VA bill to the Health and Labor bill will die in the Senate. It will not reach the President.

Result: 47 ayes to 46 nays, the point of order is sustained, the Republicans have managed to pull the VA bill off of the Health and Labor package.

Precap


The Senate will convene at 10:30 this morning at which time it will migrate as a body to the House of Representatives for a joint session of Congress to hear an address from the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Once that is finished, the Senate will proceed to consideration of the conference report to H.R. 3043, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. Interestingly, Congressional leaders have gambled by attaching the Veterans Administration appropriations bill to the Labor and Health bill.

This is apparently in response to President Bush's avowal to veto the Labor and Health package. Sure, he supports the VA bill but is he willing to veto the omnibus package, putting much-needed funds for veterans on hold? And would he do it in advance of Veterans' Day, on November 11? The Democrats have engaged the President in a high-stakes game of chicken.

My guess is that Bush will veto the package. Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) said on the floor yesterday that if Bush did veto the package, Congress would peel off the VA appropriations bill and return it by its lonesome to the President. Bush doesn't have much to lose. The Democrats can't allow themselves to be seen as playing games with veterans' funding.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

November 6, 2007:  Reid Fills the tree on Farm Bill, enraging minority senators who are now unable to offer amendments


[16:37]
Senators have generally been speaking in favor of the Farm Bill this afternoon. Ken Salazar (CO) likes it. Debbie Stabenow (MI) likes it. Larry Craig (ID) spoke in favor of it.

Now Pete Domenici (NM) is speaking about the bill. He lamented Majority Leader Reid's (NV) decision to fill the amendment tree. This procedural tactic allows Reid to decide what and whether further amendments will be considered for the bill. Reid used this uncommon tactic to speed along consideration of the bill. Reid said that he would only "open the tree" to include consideration of amendments that were "relevant" to the Farm Bill. Who decides what's relevant? Reid does. Hey, it's great to be the majority leader of the U.S. Senate.

Domenici has an amendment mandating an increase in the nation's use of renewable fuels. It would double the ethanol usage in the U.S. Domenici wonders whether Reid will allow the amendment to even be considered.

[12:46]
The Senate is on lunch recess. It's back at 14:15.

Judiciary Cmte. Approves of Mukasey, but is filibuster still possible?

I don't see why not. The Judiciary Committee voted today 11-8 in favor of referring Mukasey's nomination to the floor of the Senate for a full vote. Senators Schumer (NY) and Feinstein (CA) voted to refer the nomination to the floor. But in so doing they were the only Judiciary Cmte. Democrats to support Mukasey. Don't forget that it only takes 41 senators to filibuster a nomination on the floor of the Senate. Forty-one senators can frustrate an attempt to invoke cloture on a nomination. Imagine if 41 of 51 Democrats still decide that they will not vote for Mukasey. As for a rough count, start with 51. Take away Schumer, Feinstein, Lieberman, and perhaps Mark Pryor (AR) who tends to be moderate on national security issues. That still leaves 47 Democrats, plenty to block a nomination. Look at those Dems voting against Mukasey in the Judiciary Committee: Dick Durbin (IL), the majority whip; Joe Biden (DE), the presidential candidate; Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), the rookie senator and former prosecutor. Also consider this: there have been a lot of senators missing votes. Is John Warner (VA) going to be back for a vote? Will Hillary and Obama show up? How about McCain who believes that waterboarding is torture? The NYT says that Mukasey's nomination is virtually assured but I'm still eager for that cloture vote.


[12:14]

Reid starts Christmas Decorating early, Fills the tree on Farm Bill

Reid has employed a parliamentary tactic known as "filling the tree" to shut down the otherwise open amendment process to the Farm Bill. The Grassley/Dorgan Amendment made it through before Reid filled the tree.

As a result, no other senator can offer an amendment to the bill unless he obtains unanimous consent to lay the pending amendment aside. That won't happen; there will always be an objection to controversial amendments that senators want to offer, for instance, an Iraq withdrawal amendment or an amendment to repeal the estate tax.

As Judd Gregg (NH) and Mitch McConnell (KY) are observing, Reid now has the sole ability to decide whether an amendment to the Farm Bill will be considered. Reid, and only Reid, can still "open the tree" to let an amendment in.

Previous Senate Majority Leaders from both sides have employed this tactic of "filling the tree." It is often employed late in the session when time is running out.

Now Gregg is unleashing a restrained tirade against Reid's decision to shut down the open amendment process for the Farm Bill. He says that the Farm Bill, being big and complex, needs to include an open amendment process. He wants the Death Tax issue to be on the table, he wants the AMT issue to be on the table. It's "totally reasonable" to spend a long time on the Farm Bill, he says.

"Relevant is irrelevant when it comes to a bill on the floor of the Senate," says Gregg. "If someone wants to put on an amendment about Nicaraguan housekeeping, they can do that. That's the tradition of the Senate!"

Reid says there will not be a cloture vote on the Farm Bill until next week. There should be enough votes for cloture to be invoked.

Impending Congressional Override of Bush's Water Resources Bill Veto


Last Friday, President Bush vetoed an $83b water resources bill referred to as "WERTA." The authorization bill passed the Senate on an 81-12 vote. Russ Feingold (WI) was among the 12 senators opposing the bill, which authorizes spending for over 900 water projects around the country. Feingold believes that the bill fails to undertake a critical task — reform of the Army Corps of Engineers, the entity that would do much of the work authorized by the bill. Feingold wants to see an independent body review Army Corps design plans project-by-project.

The bill authorizes $3.5b to a project in post-Katrina Louisiana. It authorizes $2b to a threatened Everglades. The bill does not actually appropriate the money — it only authorizes the spending. Later bills would have to distribute the money.

Bush said that the cost of the bill had ballooned in conference. He said that the Army Corps of Engineers, which would do the bulk of the water project work, already has a backlog of projects so why authorize a bunch more than might never be completed?

The House plants to vote to override the President's veto of the bill today. The Senate override vote could follow within hours. Both the House and Senate appear to have enough votes to override the veto. This would be the first override of a George W. Bush veto.

[10:19]

Dems will attach Veterans bill to veto-threated health & labor package

Mitch McConnell (KY) now speaking. Says majority still hasn't sent a single appropriations to the President. Although both houses have passed some of the spending bills, no conference reports have been agreed and sent to the president. For instance, Congress has not passed the Veterans Administration conference report.

McConnell says that Dem leadership plans to tie the VA bill to the Labor & Health bill. Bush would sign the VA bill, but would veto the Labor & Health bill, says McConnell. We shouldn't penalize our veterans for the overspending of our government, says McConnell.

[10:06]

Filibuster of Farm Bill?

Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) is opening the session with comments on what is ahead. He is talking about how the Senate is going to recess for Thanksgiving at the end of next week.

It sounds like there are some Republicans who don't want the farm bill to move ahead. Reid mentioned something about Republican senators delaying the bill by taking the Senate into a series of extended quorum calls.

Delays are crucial this time of year because there is very little legislative time remaining. Reid said that he would not hold a cloture vote on the farm bill this week.

He did, though, make one reference to "filling the tree" which is a parliamentary tactic that a majority leader will employ to prevent senators from offering additional amendments to a bill.

There is a lot of work left to do before Thanksgiving recess. There are conference reports for Health and Defense that need to be confirmed by the Senate and sent to the President. Reid said that the continuing funding resolution will be attached to the Defense bill. This resolution is a pledge by Congress to continue funding the government at current levels in lieu of a budget. There is also the Mukasey confirmation for Attorney General.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

November 5, 2007:  The Senate Works on a Farm Bill

[17:00]
The Senate has just adjourned. It will convene tomorrow morning at 10:00. The pending business is the Farm Bill, H.R. 2419.

Senators have been informed that debate could be interrupted for votes on a continuing resolution to renew government funding levels and/or a potential override of the President's veto of a water resources bill.

A Hard Cap on Safety Net Payments

[18:13]
Byron Dorgan (ND) is voicing his support for the farm bill. He wants to see it get done right away so that farmers can prepare for next spring's planting season with some certainty of mind.

He says that "big, corporate agrifactories" can make it through the hard times. "If they wanna farm two, three counties, God help 'em. I just don't think that the government needs to be their banker."

He is sponsoring an amendment with Grassley that would put a payment cap on so-called safety net payments to farmers. There is a safety net provision already in the bill but Dorgan and Grassley, with a mind to focusing the bill's provisions so as to help small farmers, want to put a cap on those payments.

Their cap would be $250k/year AND, to receive that payment, you would have to show that you are indeed active in farming.

To justify his amendment he cites an "arts patron" in San Francisco—who also happens to be the heiress of a farmer—as having collected $1.25m through such "safety net" payments last year.

[18:08]
Grassley will offer an amendment to the bill that would institute a "hard cap" on "safety net" payments to farmers in the bill. That cap would be $250k. He observes that the problem with gov't safety net payments has been big corporate farms getting a huge portion of payouts under prior farm bills. He said that 10% of farms have been getting 72% of funds under the U.S Farm Program.

The safety net payments are a type of insurance payment that farmers can claim under a variety of circumstances ranging from weather to trade fights to high energy prices.

COOL: Country of Origin Labeling

[18:00]
Charles Grassley (IA) is previewing the Farm Bill. He says that the bill contains a COOL provision. COOL stands for "Country of Origin Labeling." If this part of the bill sticks, all food we buy will have to contain labeling indicating where the food has come from. Such labeling requirements are not currently mandatory. Grassley says that there is opposition to this provision but it stands as good a chance as ever of getting through.

Today

The Senate will convene at 14:00 and will be in a period of morning business until 15:00, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

At 15:00, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 (The Farm Bill). There will be no roll call votes during Monday's session of the Senate.

The Week Ahead

This week, the Senate will begin consideration of The Farm Bill, and may turn to the consideration of the veto override of H.R. 1495, the Water Resources and Development Act of 2007, or any other items on the Legislative or Executive Calendar cleared for action.

On November 7, at 11:00, His Excellency Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, will address a Joint Meeting of Congress in the Hall of the House of Representatives in the U.S. Capitol.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

S-CHIP


It appears as though Congress will reach a bicameral, bipartisan agreement on a final new S-CHIP bill. Earlier today the Senate passed a revised S-CHIP bill with the vote of 64 senators. Dodd, Clinton, Obama, and Wyden were all absent from that vote, so there were 68 votes for this version of the S-CHIP in the Senate. This is enough to override a Presidential veto.

However, the Senate is not going to send this version of the bill to conference with the House. There isn't any point because Bush will veto it and the bill does not represent anything like a compromise in the eyes of House Republicans. Interestingly, on a side note, in reiterating his threat to veto the bill, Bush today raised an objection to the idea of paying for an S-CHIP expansion with an increase in the tobacco tax. Democrats responded immediately by saying, "But that was how we were planning on paying for it along—why raise objection to it only now?" Reid described the sudden objection as a "blindside." To me, it signaled that Bush was signaling that he would find a reason, any reason, to veto S-CHIP unless Congress came much, much closer to his proposal.

Instead of sending their latest version of S-CHIP to the President, Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) is confident that lead Senate proponents of the bill are going to agree a final, third version of the bill. This version would withstand a Presidential veto by garnering 2/3 of House voters. It is unclear whether Bush would veto a bill that he knew would go on only to win the support of 2/3 of the House, this overriding his veto, something that he has not yet experienced as President.

Credit the agreement (or, if you like, castigate) leading Republican senate proponents of the bill such as Orrin Hatch (UT) and Chuck Grassley (IA). Grassley in particular has irritated the White House and House minority leaders by ignoring "chain of command" to negotiate details of a compromise bill with Republican representatives open to discussions.

Reid said that only "small changes" would need to be made to the second version of the bill. This agreement could be announced Friday but mid-to-late next week is more likely.

In the meantime, it's time for the Farm Bill.

Nov. 1, 2007:  Reid Believes Congress is "Very Close" to a Veto-Proof Agreement on S-CHIP


[19:05]
The Senate is in an extended quorum call. I believe Majority Leader Reid is engaged in off-the-floor talks with minority leadership concerning what will happen next (week) in the Senate. There is some question as to whether the Senate will have to hold a cloture vote on a motion to proceed to the farm bill. If such a vote is necessary, it would occur Monday. The Senate doesn't usually vote on Monday, so they are probably working out some agreement so that this vote is not necessary. Theoretically, a senator who is very unhappy with some aspect of the farm bill could force a cloture vote by threatening to filibuster the bill.

[17:14]
The Senate is about to pass another S-CHIP bill. However, Reid indicates that Congress will not send this version of the bill to the President. The President would veto it and there aren't enough votes in the House for an override.

However, says Reid, senators and House reps are "very close" to working out a bicameral, bipartisan version of S-CHIP that will be veto-proof. News on that sort of agreement could come out later this week or sometime next week. This would be the victory that bipartisan proponents of the bill have been seeking. It is increasingly clear that Bush is much more unlikely to find a version of S-CHIP that he likes than are House Republicans. Reid says that a few small changes to the bill will bring the requisite number of House Republicans on board.

[17:10]
The Senate just passed an S-CHIP procedural vote. I believe this vote was for cloture on the bill itself. Reid (NV) says that one more vote will follow immediately. After that, there won't be anymore votes this week.

He says that he wants to avoid having a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the farm bill. But if such a vote is necessary, it will happen noon Monday. Otherwise, they'll pick up farm bill business Tuesday. Senators are free to give opening statements on the farm bill on Monday.

Next week will be very busy, says Reid. The Senate must pass another continuing budget resolution to fund the government. The current resolution runs out on Nov. 16.


[17:03]
The Senate is holding another procedural vote on S-CHIP.

[16:36]
Senator Reid (NV) is now speaking about S-CHIP. He said that he and his fellow S-CHIP proponents have done everything possible to reach an all-around agreement on S-CHIP. He said that Senate rules do not allow him to cancel the impending cloture vote on the bill. But he is also indicating that he is willing S-CHIP to "simmer a little," so as to allow Congressmen to reach a compromise that both parties can agree to (even if the President will not agree to it).

Senators such as Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) and Mike Enzi (WY) spoke to today on the floor to argue that the so-called "new version" of S-CHIP that the Senate is now considering is not any better than the version that Bush has already vetoed. John Cornyn (TX) said that the new version was in fact worse than the vetoed version because it costs $500m more and covers 400,000 fewer children. Cornyn is the only person I've heard quote those figures.

[14:08]
Ben Cardin (MD) has just said that senators are going to have a chance to vote on S-CHIP in "a couple of hours."

[13:52]
Sherrod Brown (OH) was just speaking in opposition to a free trade deal with Peru that a House committee voted 39-0 in favor of the other day. Brown is categorically opposed to any new free trade deal until the entire U.S. approach to trade deals undergoes reform.

Brown is a first-term senator from Ohio. He has a very gravelly voice. Oftimes, he will take to the floor to oppose Bush Administration trade policy when not much else is going on in the Senate.

Precap:

As the Senate left off yesterday, the S-CHIP bill was the pending business. The bill had just garnered 62 votes to leap a procedural hurdle. Majority Leader Reid (NV) had scheduled the next procedural vote on S-CHIP for 1:00 tonight/tomorrow morning. I am not real clear on why this odd hour would be his choice for the vote.

I know that after a cloture vote on a motion to proceed, which took place yesterday on S-CHIP, there is a thirty hour cap on debate before the Senate will vote on the motion itself. However, I cannot figure how 30 hours takes us to 1:00 a.m. Either this was the soonest hour at which Reid could hold the vote, or he was just trying to irritate Republican leadership.