Or so we believed.
According to a fresh report from The Hill, some Dems are now considering a fresh strategy in hopes of passing the program.
Democrat Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia told journalists he and some of his colleagues are considering forcing GOP members to hold the Senate floor with arguments in hopes they will get tired and allow Chuck Schumer to ask for a simple-majority vote.
“There are two paths,” Senator Kaine said. “Do we go with the long debate until it is done and then get a simple debate?”
“We would not need a rules change to pass this bill by simple majority if the debate is done. You do not need to change the rules to enact the bill that is on the floor, you only have to allow the debate to happen.”
Kaine is right by the strict definition of these rules, The Hill said. The 60-vote threshold is now required to pass the cloture vote to stop the debate, but a simple majority might be used if the debate has ended.
However, this strategy has gone unused for decades, the Hill said. Instead, Senate members are simply assuming the floor is “being tied up as a controversial bill is pending.”
James Wallner, a Senate procedure expert, said it would be possible for the Dems to pass the program with a simple majority by enforcing a strict Senate rule definitions.
“The easiest way to get acceptance on this bill is to put to the floor and have VP Kamala Harris or Schumer or any other lawmaker start making points against other senators who try to speak more than twice,” Wallner stated.
As reported by The Hill, Wallner was mentioned Senate Rule XIX, which says that “no senator shall speak more than twice after any one question during a debate on the same day without leaving the Senate.”
In the end, all this proves that Democrats cannot grasp the notion that most Americans don’t support their huge government overreach.
