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The House is not in session. Senate will resume consideration of S. 1813, the highway bill. Currently, the Senate is finishing voting on two remaining amendments pending to the highway bill. Following those votes, the Senate will vote on final passage of S. 1813.
This afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has decided that he’d prefer to spend time on unnecessary cloture votes on 17 district court judges instead of taking up the bipartisan House-passed JOBS Act. The JOBS Act passed the House by a huge bipartisan vote of 390-23 and would cut red tap
Unless Reid changes his mind, the series of cloture votes is set to begin at 2:30 PM.
Yesterday, the Senate voted on 10 amendments to the highway bill. Among those, Democrats voted down one from Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), which was another opportunity to authorize the Keystone XL pipeline. Also rejected were an amendment from Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to extend a number of green energy tax credits, an amendment from Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to give tax incentives for natural gas vehicles, and an amendment from Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) to offset some of the costs of the bill with spending cuts.
Today, Senate Democrats and President Obama showcased their misplaced priorities after they pushed for a long series of cloture votes on district court judges instead of moving forward on a bipartisan House-passed bill that would create jobs.
The Hill writes today, “Senate GOP leaders attacked their Democratic counterparts on Tuesday for scheduling action on judicial nominees instead of acting this week on a jobs bill. But the White House came out in strong support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) decision to invoke cloture to break a Republican filibuster to confirm the 17 court nominees. . . . Fresh off the overwhelming passage of the House-backed JOBS Act last week, McConnell called on Reid to forgo the ‘manufactured crisis’ over 17 judges, and move on the JOBS Act. ‘We have a way of dealing with judicial and other appointments in the Senate — this effort to have 17 cloture votes in a row is manufactured crisis. … This is a needless exercise and waste of the Senate’s time,’ [Senate Republican Leader Mitch] McConnell told reporters. Reid noted that he liked the House-passed bill and said it would be acted on in the near future but, at this point, he was resolved to move the judicial nominations.”
The Wall Street Journal noted the choice Democrats are making, asking “Are jobs more important than getting federal judges confirmed?” Even a Los Angeles Times opinion piece backing the Democrats acknowledged, “Jobs bills are arguably more urgent than judicial nominations . . . . Compared to, say, someone laid off because of the recession, a judicial nominee waiting for confirmation isn't a particularly poignant figure.”
Apparently, President Obama’s White House has decided to give “a ringing endorsement” to Reid’s move, despite the president’s insistence that he’s focused on jobs. White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler went so far as to tell reporters on a conference call, “What the president is really asking — what he's demanding — is that the Senate do its job on behalf of the American people.” The president is “demanding” that the Senate put jobs on the back burner and instead have show votes on district court judges?
Recall that Democrats’ messaging chief, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday that “Democrats are focused like a laser on jobs, the economy, and the middle class.” It’s hard to see how setting aside a jobs bill that has support from both political parties in both houses of Congress and the president in favor of a long series of votes on judges.
As GOP Leader McConnell said today, “[T]his is not about making sure the President is treated fairly in his judicial nominations. In fact, this isn’t about judicial nominations at all. This is about giving the President what he wants, when he wants it. And what the President wants is to distract the country from his failed policies that have led to soaring gas prices and high unemployment, and instead try to write a narrative of obstruction for his campaign. . . . What the Majority should do is work with us to move these lifetime appointments in an orderly manner . . . . As I suggested yesterday, we could get to the bi-partisan JOBS Act this week and process some judicial nominees. The JOBS Act passed the House by a vote of 390 to 23, and the President says he supports it. . . . So I encourage the Majority to work with us on both legislation and nominations, not to go off on a partisan, and unprecedented, path that won’t get us anywhere, and won’t solve the problems Americans care about.”
Tags: Senate, highway bill, amendments, natural gas subsidies, High gasoline prices, jons, the economy, judges, Obama administration To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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