# Pelosi and Schumer say they'll pass legislation to end the shutdown. How? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 23, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591 "2018-12-23T22:54:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/261 "2019-01-04T13:59:52Z")
> [@](#): > > [McConnell] has repeatedly said he will not bring up legislation that Mr. Trump does not support — a point he reiterated in a speech on Thursday on the Senate floor. > > “I’ve made it clear on several occasions, and let me say it again: The Senate will not take up any proposal that does not have a real chance of passing this chamber and getting a presidential signature,” Mr. McConnell said. “Let’s not waste the time. Let’s not get off on the wrong foot, with House Democrats using their new platform to produce political statements rather than serious solutions.” > … > [Cite](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/us/politics/mcconnell-senate-republicans-shutdown.html) At this point, it’s not veto power, it’s bringing a bill for the Senate to vote on. Mitch is doing the thing he does best: obstructing Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/262 "2019-01-04T14:11:04Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > It isn’t a veto power. It is the power to set the schedule. So, one senator could override the other 99 and there’s nothing they could do about it? For that matter, if 2/3s of the senators wanted to expel McConnell from the Senate as per the Constitution, he could just say, “No vote!” and be forever protected? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/263 "2019-01-04T14:19:34Z")
No, the party caucus could vote him out as leader at any time - if they wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/264 "2019-01-04T14:33:44Z")
> [@ricksummon](#): > > So, one senator could override the other 99 and there’s nothing they could do about it? For that matter, if 2/3s of the senators wanted to expel McConnell from the Senate as per the Constitution, he could just say, “No vote!” and be forever protected? I really doubt that. In practice it doesn’t matter - McConnell has been quite possibly the most effective republican politician in the modern era. Nobody’s going to vote to demote him. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/265 "2019-01-04T15:15:51Z")
So the house has passed spending bills, does anyone know if these are the exact same bills passed by the Senate last month? Or did they make changes? ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/266 "2019-01-04T15:30:26Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > So the house has passed spending bills, does anyone know if these are the exact same bills passed by the Senate last month? Or did they make changes? No – the Senate passed a temporary funding measure to keep government open for a period, while not making any substantive decisions on the details of full-year funding matters. The House bills are full-year funding proposals. And in any case, all bills that were introduced or passed last year have expired now that a new Congress has been sworn in. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/267 "2019-01-04T16:22:27Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > The D’s need 13 Republican Senators to pass a C.R. or Budget; they need 20 R Senators (and about 55 R’s in the House) to override a veto. Is there any chance the R’s would vote to override a veto, or would that be too insulting to Dear Orange Leader? (The Senate passed the earlier vetoed C.R. 100 to 0!) > > In news reports it often sounds like Mitch McConnell controls the Senate, almost as if the other 99 Senators are irrelevant! What would it take for the Senate to say [del]“Shut the fuck up, Mitch!”[/del] “We respectfully override the Majority Leader”? 51 Senators? 60 Senators? 27 Republican Senators with Dems irrelevant? The majority leader - right now McConnell - has pretty much absolute power to control what bills come up to the floor for a vote. It’s baked into the Senate’s rules. Were the question in the House there could potentially be a petition to discharge which can override leadership and force a floor vote on a measure. I don’t believe there’s an equivalent for the senate. Mind you, there are other sorts of pressure that could be applied to McConnell - falling approval numbers, holding up his priorities in other ways or whatever - but those are all influential power…they’re not direct. No, it’s McConnell’s show until either he’s out of office or he’s removed as Majority Leader by his caucus. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/268 "2019-01-04T16:46:18Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I really doubt that. In practice it doesn’t matter - McConnell has been quite possibly the most effective republican politician in the modern era. Nobody’s going to vote to demote him. Effective? He has done exactly shit. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/269 "2019-01-04T17:33:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Effective? He has done exactly shit. He singlehandedly tilted the balance of the Supreme Court. That’s got to count for something. I’m not saying something good, but just… something. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/270 "2019-01-04T17:38:11Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > McConnell has said he won’t allow a vote on a bill if the president says he won’t sign it, which precludes the chance for a veto override. > > It has been said that the GOP will abandon democracy before it abandons its unpopular positions. Now we are seeing that not allowing voting is pretty much what the modern GOP is all about. But we should have known that when they refused to hold a hearing on Merrick Garland. > > Only one side is acting in good faith within the Democratic system, and it is not the GOP. They don’t have the votes for their proposal. That should be it- holding 800,000 people’s jobs hostage is not honorable or acceptable. 100% truth. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/271 "2019-01-04T17:42:11Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > He singlehandedly tilted the balance of the Supreme Court. That’s got to count for something. I’m not saying something good, but just… something. No, that was the President, and the senate as a whole. McConnell wasnt needed at all. The president nominated the two judges, and there was a GOP majority in the Senate. Their vote was pretty much assured. Even in the case of Kavanaugh, if his nomination had failed, Trump could have brought in any number of better and still conservative judges, like Gorsuch. All McConnell did was piss many people off by refusing to hold a vote on Garland. He could have let the vote happen, and Garland would have been voted down. That was a bad decision on McConnells part. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/272 "2019-01-04T18:02:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No, that was the President, and the senate as a whole. Nope, it was McConnell. He alone had the power to decide whether the Senate would steal a seat, and he decided so. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/273 "2019-01-04T18:07:26Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Nope, it was McConnell. He alone had the power to decide whether the Senate would steal a seat, and he decided so. Nonsense. If McConnell had let it go to a vote, the GOp still wouldn’t have voted Garland in. McConnell was just trying to show how powerful he was, he was grandstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/274 "2019-01-04T18:07:48Z")
Also remember that his base wants him to not do shit. And he’s been very effective at that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/275 "2019-01-04T18:09:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Also remember that his base wants him to not do shit. And he’s been very effective at that. Functionally, he’s the [megacolon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacolon)of the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/276 "2019-01-04T18:10:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nonsense. If McConnell had let it go to a vote, the GOp still wouldn’t have voted Garland in. McConnell was just trying to show how powerful he was, he was grandstanding. And protecting his caucus from having any political consequence for voting against an obviously qualified nominee. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/277 "2019-01-04T18:15:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nonsense. If McConnell had let it go to a vote, the GOp still wouldn’t have voted Garland in. McConnell was just trying to show how powerful he was, he was grandstanding. No, Garland would have been confirmed. Which is why McConnell refused to hold the vote, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/278 "2019-01-04T18:18:31Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > No, Garland would have been confirmed. Which is why McConnell refused to hold the vote, obviously. How? The GOp had a majority of the Senate. The Senate Judiciary committee had already said they wouldnt confirm a lame duck appointment. You think a half dozen Republicans would have voted against their party on this?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/279 "2019-01-04T18:19:43Z")
I am not so sure Garland would have been voted down. Voting against a qualified judge is quite an unscrupulous act of partisanship. Maybe they could have cooked up something, but was there any dirt on Garland even close to 30 year old sex assault accusations? Anything like Bork’s pot smoking and hyper partisan Nixon enabling? Anything? Voting him down might have been viewed as naked, scandalous shenanigans. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591/280 "2019-01-04T18:22:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You think a half dozen Republicans would have voted against their party on this?:dubious: Probably 20-ish Republicans would have voted for him had the process played out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pelosi-and-schumer-say-theyll-pass-legislation-to-end-the-shutdown-how/826591.md?page=15)