Senate friction delays Biden agenda
WASHINGTON — When President Joe Biden took office last week, he promised sweeping, bipartisan legislation to solve the coronavirus pandemic, fix the economy and overhaul immigration.
Just days later, the Senate has ground to a halt, with Democrats and Republicans unable to agree on even basic rules for how the evenly divided body should operate.
Meanwhile, key Republicans have quickly signaled discomfort with — or outright dismissal of — the cornerstone of Mr. Biden’s early legislative agenda: a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan that includes measures including $1,400 stimulus checks, vaccine distribution funding and a $15 minimum wage.
On top of that, senators are preparing for a second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, set to begin Feb. 9.
Taken together, this gridlock could imperil Mr. Biden’s early presidency, making it impossible for him to deliver on key promises as he contends with dueling crises.
This reality could force
Democrats to choose within weeks whether they will pursue the sort of bipartisan cooperation that Mr. Biden — and many senators — have preached, or to push for procedural shortcuts or rule changes that would sideline the GOP but divide the Democratic caucus.
Much of the current conflict over the rules comes courtesy of veteran Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who transitioned to minority leader Wednesday after six years as majority leader.
Just hours after Mr. Biden’s inauguration, Mr. McConnell noted on the Senate floor that the country elected a smaller House Democratic majority, a split Senate and a “president who promised unity.”
“The people intentionally entrusted both political sides with significant power to shape our nation’s direction,” he said. “May we work together to honor that trust.”
Two days earlier, Mr. McConnell had notified the Senate GOP that he would deliver new Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., a sharp ultimatum: agree to preserve the legislative filibuster, or forget about any semblance of cooperation — starting with an agreement on the chamber’s operating rules.
The calculations for Mr. McConnell are simple. Not only is preserving the filibuster a matter that Republicans can unify around, it is something that divides Democrats, who are under huge pressure to discard it to advance their agenda.
The filibuster has evolved over the course of its history into a de facto supermajority requirement, requiring 60 votes to end debate and advance legislation. Rarely has one party held enough votes to defeat filibusters without at least some cross-aisle cooperation.
The rule has been eroded over the past decade. After Mr. McConnell led a blockade of then-President Barack Obama’s nominees, Democrats in 2013 allowed executive appointees and lowercourt judges to be advanced with a simple majority vote.
Mr. McConnell, in turn, eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees when Democrats threatened to block the nomination of Neil Gorsuch in 2017.
Mr. McConnell last week reminded Democrats that many of them praised the filibuster in the past.
But most Democrats — who watched Mr. McConnell exempt Republican nominees from filibuster rules where he saw fit under Mr. Trump after using them to block Mr. Obama — now find his early power move to be infuriating.
Mr. Schumer said as much Friday, telling Mr. McConnell that he considered any deal surrounding the filibuster to be an “extraneous demand” departing from the arrangement that the two parties worked out the last time there was a 50-50 Senate, in 2001.
“What’s fair is fair,” he said, noting that Mr. McConnell twice changed the rules as majority leader.
Mr. Biden’s least controversial Cabinet nominees have moved forward quickly: Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were confirmed last week, while Janet Yellen is set to be confirmed as treasury secretary Monday. But other nominees could remain in limbo while Mr. McConnell and Mr. Schumer remain at an impasse.
Mr. Biden, who spent 36 years as a senator, said in July that he’d “take a look” at filibuster elimination if Senate Republicans bogged his agenda down.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated Friday that Mr. Biden had not yet reached that point, saying he intended to work with both parties to advance his relief package.
And indeed, a bipartisan group of lawmakers met virtually with White House officials Sunday to discuss the $1.9 trillion plan.
The talks focused on how Mr. Biden and his team settled on the overall figures and whether they could provide additional data to corroborate the proposal.
Lawmakers in both parties raised the prospect of curtailing elements of the proposal, including the eligibility for $1,400 checks and ensuring that it was more targeted, The New York Times reported.
“There was a genuine desire on the part of the White House to achieve a bipartisan proposal,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.
The group comprised of several lawmakers who helped jump-start stalled negotiations over the $900 billion package approved in late December, including Sens. Susan Collins, RMaine; Joe Manchin, DW.Va.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; and Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
Reps. Josh Gottheimer, DN.J., and Tom Reed, R-N.Y., the leaders of the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus, also joined the call.