I made no claim to the likelihood of success, instead, I was commenting on the point of the scheme. Though Bernie may not be able to force the issue, he can certainly “gum up the works” and force everyone to stay in town (including Perdue and Loeffler). Also, I recall reading that, with holiday absences, McConnell may not have the 60 votes for cloture. I have not seen how many Senators are actually in chamber today, so I don’t know if enough votes are actually available. (Although if there are enough Senators present to override the NDAA veto, cloture may not be a huge concern).
The odds of anything effectively advancing the stimulus payment in the Senate are very low. The odds that Bernie’s antics will keep the media cycle firmly fixed on the Senate today are very high - with much attention focused on Perdue and Loeffler’s responses.
I’m no fan of Senator Sanders, but his even saying he’s going to try to block the NDAA vote unless McConnell puts the $2000 stimulus payment up for a vote reminds people that McConnell is holding up votes on things that would benefit people. So even if Loeffler and Perdue say they’d vote for the $2000 stimulus (which they have), it’s a nice reminder that a vote for them is a vote for McConnell to keep doing these things. And it continues to help drive a wedge between McConnell and Trump.
And now, Perdue and Loeffler have signaled their support for the $2000 stimulus:
(Sorry, Washington Post paywall warning).
They join Marco Rubio and Josh Hawley in support of the payments. Though McConnell still rules this particular roost, the calculus has become more complicated.
McConnell may well allow a vote on the $2,000 checks, particularly if he calculates that it’s necessary to hold onto the Georgia Senate seats. But it won’t be because of anything Sanders tries to pull on the NDAA.
I suspect that what McConnell may try to do is put a bill on the floor that provides for the $2,000 checks but pairs it up with something that’s poison to Democrats – e.g. a coronavirus liability shield for employers. Then Republicans who feel like they need to be on record voting for the larger checks can do so without the possibility that it will actually become law.
What it does is keep the media spotlight on Bernie Sanders. It certainly does nothing to “remind” me personally of McConnell’s shortcomings, but it does a lot to remind me of Sanders’.
He’s effectively throwing a tantrum and threatening to hold his breath until he gets his way. All Mitch McConnell needs to do is calmly wait until Sanders runs out of oxygen, while occasionally dropping comments to the media about Democratic obstructionism on a measure that’s vital to national security.
There’s just no upside for Sanders, other than reinforcing his smug self-image as the One Good Man in Washington.
It may do it for you, but it doesn’t do that for me. And I think it’s helpful to keep the spotlight on McConnell during this last week before our two Georgia Senate seat elections. So I welcome it. Make McConnell have to deal a little bit more about not bringing the $2000 stimulus to the floor (which he would have anyways, but interestingly after Sanders made his statement both Perdue and Loeffler have come out for the $2000 stimulus).
Not only that but TRUMP retweeted someone saying that Sanders was going to try to force the $2000 to the floor, saying that it should be $2000 not $600 (basically backing Sanders). So it’s helping to put McConnell even more into a pincer as he rejects the first attempt to vote on it on the Senate floor. Pitting Loeffler and Perdue openly against McConnell.
Just a note: the $2000 is actually $1400. You’re definitely getting $600; that was passed and signed. The bill to raise it to $2000 is in question. But it doesn’t give everyone $2000 more; it gives $1400 more for a total of $2000.
FWIW, Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts is also saying no vote on the NDAA until the $2000 comes to the floor. Will be interesting to see if the Democrats in Senate actually grow a spine and force the issue.
McConnell instead took note of Trump’s Sunday statement that called for not only larger checks but also new curbs on large tech companies and an investigation into the November election, and he suggested they would be dealt with in tandem. That tech provision is commonly referred to as “Section 230.”
“Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together,” he said. “This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.”
Trump does not realize apparently that repealing Section 230 would almost surely result in his Twitter account being shut down since it would make Twitter liable for every libel tweeted by Trump (or anyone else). Same with Facebook and the other social media. In fact, it might even cause problems for SDMB.
I have not seen one word about the senate voting on the override. If they don’t do it today, is there any way they can do it before this congress ends?
I’m having trouble finding a cite that isn’t paywalled or on a site that blocks me until I disable my adblocker, but there’s a “test” vote scheduled for tomorrow, and the procedures are in motion to override the veto over the weekend. The end of the calendar year is irrelevant. The Senate remains in session until it decides otherwise. Time is running short before the new Congress is sworn in, but they’ve got time as long as McConnell can keep everything on track.
There is a “hard stop” though – the current session of Congress ends at noon on Sunday. Anything not approved by then is dead. I believe the plan is to tee up a cloture vote on Friday, which would limit any remaining debate on the override to 30 hours of floor time. McConnell can keep the Senate in session overnight if he wants to and run out that clock, teeing up a final vote on Saturday or early Sunday.