# Can Sen. McConnell stop a Senate vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sen-mcconnell-stop-a-senate-vote/829767 "2019-02-18T15:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sen-mcconnell-stop-a-senate-vote/829767/21 "2019-02-19T23:10:03Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > But suppose the chair (VP or PPT) simply refuses to recognize the person calling for a vote? How do they know what the senator is going to talk about? Are you suggesting that the presiding officer just won’t allow anyone to speak in the Senate for some number of days, weeks, or months? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sen-mcconnell-stop-a-senate-vote/829767/22 "2019-02-21T13:34:41Z")
As it happens, by astonishing coincidence, this question was asked and answered in the [electoral-vote.com](http://electoral-vote.com) questions-and-answers this morning: > **[ElectoralVote](https://electoral-vote.com/#item-9)** > > Track the election with a red/blue map of the US updated daily using the latest state polls. Scroll to the bottom. To sum up: they think there’s essentially no chance that McConnell would refuse to bring the bill to a vote; if he did, someone would call a point of order to force the issue; if McConnell tried to do something like adjourn the Senate the Dems would talk to the Senate’s parliamentarian; it’s possible that he could be declared in contempt of Congress and arrested by the sergeant-at-arms, though they don’t specify who will declare him in contempt. Personally, I wonder if they should be a little more cynical about McConnell and his motives, but they’re very knowledgeable about politics and government and get quite a lot of things right–anyway, it’s worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sen-mcconnell-stop-a-senate-vote/829767/23 "2019-02-21T15:22:10Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > As it happens, by astonishing coincidence, this question was asked and answered in the [electoral-vote.com](http://electoral-vote.com) questions-and-answers this morning: > > [https://electoral-vote.com/#item-9](https://electoral-vote.com/#item-9) > Scroll to the bottom. > > To sum up: they think there’s essentially no chance that McConnell would refuse to bring the bill to a vote; if he did, someone would call a point of order to force the issue; if McConnell tried to do something like adjourn the Senate the Dems would talk to the Senate’s parliamentarian; it’s possible that he could be declared in contempt of Congress and arrested by the sergeant-at-arms, though they don’t specify who will declare him in contempt. Personally, I wonder if they should be a little more cynical about McConnell and his motives, but they’re very knowledgeable about politics and government and get quite a lot of things right–anyway, it’s worth checking out. thanks for the link! And the information summary. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sen-mcconnell-stop-a-senate-vote/829767/24 "2019-02-21T17:57:06Z")
IANAL, but what about the Speech and Debate Clause? Does not voting in 18 days constitute a Felony for which the Majority Leader could be arrested? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sen-mcconnell-stop-a-senate-vote/829767/25 "2019-02-21T18:07:40Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > IANAL, but what about the Speech and Debate Clause? Does not voting in 18 days constitute a Felony for which the Majority Leader could be arrested? I don’t fully buy that the Sergeant at Arms would arrest the Majority Leader, especially if the matter could be handled other ways; but the Sergeant at Arms is fully within its power to arrest Senators if they do not show up for a live quorum call. Those Senators do not need to be committing a felony at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sen-mcconnell-stop-a-senate-vote/829767.md?page=1)