Democrats control the Senate...finally.

[GMDino]

After way too long (IMHO).

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-leaders-agree-power-sharing-deal-democrats-control-n1256604

Quote:Feb. 3, 2021, 12:04 PM EST / Source: Associated Press
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced an agreement Wednesday with Republicans to organize the evenly split chamber, ending a weekslong standoff that prevented the new Democratic majority from setting up some operations and soured relations at the start of the congressional session.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said that he and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had agreed on committee ratios and other details in the 50-50 chamber, where Democrats have the slim edge because Vice President Kamala Harris is a tie-breaking vote.

Senators can now promptly “get to work, with Democrats holding the gavels,” Schumer said.

Schumer announces Senate has reached a power-sharing agreement
FEB. 3, 202100:52
Organizing the Senate is typically a routine procedure at the start of a new Congress. But the prolonged negotiations involved a power play by McConnell as Republicans refused to relinquish control without first trying to extract concessions from Democrats that Schumer refused to give.

In particular, McConnell wanted Schumer to commit that Democrats would not end the legislative filibuster. Getting rid of that procedural tool would make it easier for the new majority to approve President Joe Biden’s agenda on a 51-vote threshold, rather than the 60 votes typically needed to advance bills.

Schumer refused to yield, but two centrist Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Krysten Sinema of Arizona, announced they would prefer to keep the filibuster intact. That essentially denied Schumer the votes needed to change the rules, and McConnell dropped his demands.

The agreement, awaiting approval in a Senate vote, means Democrats can take control of the committees and set up other operations that have stalled during the standoff. Democrats hope to hold a confirmation hearing Monday for Merrick Garland, Biden's nominee for attorney general, before the start of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Republicans lost the majority after two Georgia Democrats won run-off elections on Jan. 5, ousting incumbent Republican senators.

Senators “are ready to hit the ground running on the most important issues,” Schumer said.

The Associated Press

[*michaelsean*]

So what is the split on committees. If memory serves, when the reverse happened under Bush they did 50/50.

[Belsnickel]

(02-05-2021, 10:42 AM)michaelsean Wrote: So what is the split on committees. If memory serves, when the reverse happened under Bush they did 50/50.

It is likely that is how they will be, again, because it is my understanding that the agreement is almost the same as it was in 2001.

[GMDino]

(02-05-2021, 10:42 AM)michaelsean Wrote: So what is the split on committees. If memory serves, when the reverse happened under Bush they did 50/50.

(02-05-2021, 10:47 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: It is likely that is how they will be, again, because it is my understanding that the agreement is almost the same as it was in 2001.

Pretty much the same as 2001.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-democrats-reach-power-sharing-deal-with-republicans-11612364379

Quote:WASHINGTON—The Senate unanimously adopted an organizing resolution that sets the ground rules for a chamber evenly divided between the two parties and officially gives Democrats control of committees after two weeks of talks.


The chamber is split 50-50, and Democrats hold the majority because Vice President Kamala Harris can break any tie votes.
In remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Democrats are “ready to hit the ground running” on President Biden’s agenda.


“Senate Democrats are not going to waste any time taking on the biggest challenges facing our country and our planet,” Mr. Schumer said, adding that he’s already instructed the incoming Democratic chairs of relevant committees to begin holding hearings on major climate legislation.

SIGN UP
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said the deal is almost identical to a 2001 agreement and “will allow the Senate to be fairly run as an evenly split body.”

---

Leaders of both parties had previously indicated they would use the Senate’s last power-sharing arrangement, in 2001, as a model. In that agreement, each party had an equal number of committee seats, but the majority party held committee chairmanships and controlled the agenda, setting the schedule for nominees and legislation to come to the floor for votes, even if committee votes were tied.

As in 2001, the Democratic and Republican leaders on Wednesday also entered a colloquy, or informal understanding, into the record. That colloquy addressed one of the final sticking points in negotiations: party leaders’ ability to “fill the amendment tree”—a process that restricts the offering of amendments.

In the colloquy, Mr. Schumer noted that over the past few decades, senators had been prevented from actively participating in the legislative process because their ability to offer and receive votes on amendments had been severely restricted. He committed “to increase dramatically the number of member-initiated amendments offered in the 117th Congress” and added that he is also opposed to limiting amendments by “filling the tree,” unless obstruction prevented the Senate from taking action, leaving leaders no alternative.

Initially, Mr. McConnell held up the resolution—which is typically a routine step—until Republicans got a commitment from Democrats to preserve the legislative filibuster, a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation, giving members of the minority party influence of the Senate agenda. But he lifted his objection last week after moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona reaffirmed their longstanding support for the filibuster.

As talks dragged on, Republicans still were running most committees. In some cases, Republicans who are term-limited for chairmanships still held the gavel. In other cases, committees had no chairs because of Republican retirements. The limbo also left freshman senators without committee assignments.

That made it hard for Democrats to get things done without either unanimous consent from all 100 senators or cooperation from GOP colleagues still running committees.
The setup created headaches for Democra
ts, stuck in negotiations with Republicans to hand over the keys to the Senate.

On Monday, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the outgoing Republican chair, Sen. Lindsey Graham, to hold a timely confirmation hearing for Mr. Biden’s nominee for attorney general, Merrick Garland.

Although Mr. Graham has said he favors Mr. Garland, he denied Mr. Durbin’s request, saying in a letter that there wasn’t time for a thorough vetting before former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Mr. Graham signed the letter “Lindsey O. Graham, Chairman, Judiciary Committee.”

After Mr. Schumer’s announcement of a deal on Wednesday, Mr. Durbin told reporters he wants to hold Mr. Garland’s hearing by Monday, but that might not be possible without Republican approval given that he’s required to give them a week’s notice.
Mr. Trump’s second impeachment trial is scheduled to start in earnest in the Senate next week.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

Thankfully Manchin is showing more of a spine than I gave him credit for.

[GMDino]

Might as well talk about the confirmation hearing here.



As a side note I heard some gqp guy on MPR today talking about whether a nominee (and I did not catch which one) had the "temperament" for the position and I wondered what he thought of DJT for four years.