Schumer ‘Glad’ McConnell Gave Up ‘Ridiculous Demand’ That Dems Promise To Keep Filibuster

LOUISVILLE, KY - FEBRUARY 12: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (right) (R-KY) and U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wait on the stage together at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center where Schumer was scheduled to speak February 12, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. Sen. Schumer spoke at the event as part of the Center's Distinguished Speaker Series, and Sen. McConnell introduced him. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wait on the stage together at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center on February 12, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wait on the stage together at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center on February 12, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) claimed victory on Monday night after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) finally agreed to a power-sharing resolution and dropped his demand that Democrats commit to preserving the filibuster.

“We’re glad Senator McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand,” Schumer spokesperson Justin Goodman said in a statement to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. “We look forward to organizing the Senate under Democratic control and start getting big, bold things done for the American people.”

After several days of refusing to move forward with the resolution and thereby hamstringing the process of transferring majority power to Senate Democrats, McConnell relented on Monday after Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) publicly pledged to keep the filibuster, a Senate procedure that would require Democrats to find 60 votes in order to advance most legislation instead being able to rely on a simple majority.

“With these assurances, I look forward to moving ahead with a power-sharing agreement modeled on that precedent,” the GOP leader said.

Manchin and Sinema, who had already stated their opposition to nuking the filibuster prior to the standoff, reiterated their stances on Monday.

“I’m in the same place I’ve always been. Busting the filibuster under any conditions is wrong,” Manchin told Politico, while a spokesperson for Sinema told the Washington Post that the Arizona Democrat is “against eliminating the filibuster, and she is not open to changing her mind about eliminating the filibuster.”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for dont dont says:

    Democratic Senators represent forty million more people than rethugs. This cannot be said often enough.

  2. Sounds like Biden’s agenda has been shot down from the start. Where have we seen this before? Thanks Joe M. and Kyrsten S.

  3. Chuck needs to start arm-twisting his caucus the way McConnell as always done if the Dems are going to get anything meaningful (anything period…?) passed through the Senate.

  4. McConnell is the most despicable person, just didn’t want to give up his power. The Rethugs keep talking about unity which is such a pile of crap, only wanting it when it suits them and wait to see how unified they are on passing the relief bill. They think their job is preserving their power and has absolutely nothing to do with their constituents.

  5. I’m just going to assume the story isn’t over on this. It’s that or go nuts.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

132 more replies

Participants

Avatar for valgalky23 Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for richardinjax Avatar for marlowe Avatar for trnc Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for 26degreesrising Avatar for stradivarius50t3 Avatar for dickweed Avatar for darrtown Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for docd Avatar for joriep Avatar for enn Avatar for davidn Avatar for godwit Avatar for zillacop Avatar for m_00_m Avatar for emiliano4 Avatar for enceladus Avatar for kovie Avatar for Carmillas_Curse

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: