Democratic Death Watch: 'Biden’s agenda is pretty much dangling by a thread'
John Sexton May 10, 2021 3:00 PM ET
Yes, my headline is pretty blunt but no more so than this NY Times piece itself. Last week CNN published a story about the progressive push to get Justice Breyer to retire. There’s was one paragraph in that story which I found particularly striking. It noted that the Senate could fall into Republican’s hands “at any moment” because “two members of the Democratic majority are near or just over 80 years old.” In other words, Democrats are one stopped heartbeat away from losing the chance to replace Breyer with a young progressive.
Today, the NY Times weighs in with a piece that is focused not just on Justice Breyer but the possibility that President Biden’s entire agenda could come to a grinding halt if the wrong people were to die suddenly.
“Our ability to make good on Biden’s agenda is pretty much dangling by a thread,” said Brian Fallon, a former aide to Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader. “I don’t think it’s uncouth to talk about it. I think it’s a reality that has to inform the urgency with which we approach those issues.”…
In the most extreme case, deaths could end Democrats’ ability to pass legislation without Republican support — or even flip control of either chamber. That’s more likely in the evenly divided Senate, where a single Democratic vacancy could hand Republicans committee gavels and the power to schedule votes until a Democratic successor was appointed or elected.
A serious illness could also upset the party’s delicate legislative arithmetic. “Schumer needs all 50 votes,” said Mr. Fallon, now the executive director of Demand Justice, a progressive advocacy group focused on the federal judiciary. “If somebody is laid up or is hospitalized for a long period of time and their vote’s not there, then having the majority is somewhat meaningless.”
It’s also possible that a special election or governor’s appointment could shift Senate control more lastingly. Several states require governors to fill vacancies with a temporary replacement of the same political party as the departed senator. But nine senators in the Democratic caucus represent states with Republican governors who can appoint anyone they choose. That could let a Republican governor name a Republican replacement, giving Republicans the majority, even if it may be temporary.
more
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2021/05/10/democratic-death-watch-bidens-agenda-is-pretty-much-dangling-by-a-thread-n388969
