Writes Carl Hulse, in "Republicans Use Arcane Political Tactic to Thwart Democrats/The party has used resolutions of disapproval to confound President Biden and Democrats, forcing them to make tough decisions and debate issues they would prefer to avoid" (NYT).
[T]he Congressional Review Act, enacted in 1996 after Republicans took power on Capitol Hill... created the process that allows Congress to upend federal rules. With little power to set the Senate agenda, Republicans regard the tactic as a handy way to score legislative victories and force Democrats to debate subjects they would rather avoid....
The technique... fits the Republican legislative mind-set, which tends more toward blocking policy rather than creating it. “We are built to disapprove,” said Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota....
Given Congress’s constitutional authority over the District, its laws are subject to review and can be overturned. Republicans are eager to cast Democrats as soft on crime and saw the District law as a vehicle to do just that....
The president ended the suspense by announcing he would sign it, making it the first time in 30 years that a District law is set to be blocked by Congress.
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40 comments:
[Yawn]. Political maneuvers are “arcane” when Republicans use them, but “clever” when Democrats use them. The buried story is that Democrats are slowly realizing that crime is a significant issue, and they are on the wrong side of it.
"force Democrats to debate subjects they would rather avoid....The technique... fits the Republican legislative mind-set, which tends more toward blocking policy"
From which we may infer that Dems like to make policy without debate.
I am glad the GOP pounced on that.
"Republicans are eager to cast Democrats as soft on crime and saw the District law as a vehicle to do just that..."
Boy, I don't know how the Democrats can possibly be cast as soft on crime. The very idea!!!
Vote for Paul Vallas for Mayor. The whisper campaign against him is that he is a Republican--he is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police.
Just like Bill Clinton, the Democrats' policies have forced a dose of reality on a leftist president. I am surprised that Biden is this alert but it may be his puppeteer responding. After all, Susan Rice's husband and son are Republicans.
"forcing them to make tough decisions"
Oh the horror!!! Schumer's office checking to see if this violates any portion of the Geneva Convention or WHO secret agreements.
Republicans are eager to cast Democrats as soft on crime
Mm hmm.
The rest of the tone wasn't too "Republicans pounce!"-y, but that one sentence stood out for me.
I saw Carl Hulse as a panelist on Washington Week. He seemed to be quite unhappy that Biden said that he would sign the bill.
"...arcane maneuver..."
IT'S MAGIC, I TELLS YA! THEY'RE WITCHES!
if it is so effective why has it remained arcane?
The technique... fits the Republican legislative mind-set, which tends more toward blocking policy rather than creating it.
They aren't in favor of approving destructive liberal policers, that's for certain. If they create some policy are you gonna wanna vote for it, libs?
Didn't think so...
An arcane maneuver? So, is it in congress’ procedural books or not? If it is, then I suppose anyone can know about it if they want to. Then we have this gem: “… which tends more toward blocking policy rather than creating it.”. This is getting pretty tiresome to keep reading this nonsense from supposedly intelligent writers. It can be a policy to do nothing. It can certainly be a policy to stop other stupid policies.
And those nasty mean blocking Republicans! They made the President do something. They forced him. He didn’t want to - goodness knows didn’t want to sign it - but they MADE him.
Well, if it passed the Senate, it must have had at least 11 votes from Democrats, right?
Democrats are eager to cast themselves as "soft on crime" but it's only bad when Republicans say it, kind of like how it's OK for Democrats to talk about the "Emerging Democratic majority," but it's naziism for Republicans to mention their plan.
It was a reversal from his earlier opposition and a frank acknowledgment that Republicans had gotten the better of Democrats on the hot-button topic of violent crime. It is somewhat unusual for the president to have to confront legislation he opposes when his party controls at least part of the Congress — in this case the Senate — since his allies on Capitol Hill can usually bottle up legislation they don’t like and spare him from a veto or a tough decision...."
...talk about a little hard to figure out the causality- Republicans want control of violent crime but Joe Biden doesn't...but it will hurt Joe Biden with voters if he doesn't sign it? So...the tricky Republicans tricked Joe Biden in to legislation Democrat constituents want? Huh?
Poor pro-crime Democrats.
I think Narayan's question is a good one. Why don't they use this more often--for stuff that matters to the rest of us?
expecto petrona, the whole thing was a no brainer, but considering the ruling circles, thats not a a disqualifyer,
Michael K said...
. . . . After all, Susan Rice's husband and son are Republicans.
On "The Five", Dana Perino frequently asks "where is Susan Rice?" as the obviously rudderless administration flails around trying to respond to the Palestine derailment, fentanyl crises, etc.
Guaranteed that a secret cabal of Dems pushed Biden to sign it. They live and work in DC, after all. They can’t be subject to the same bad policies enacted by Dems in other big cities.
Washington State Democrats passed a law restricting police pursuits. That law resulted in the death of two kids (6 & 8) in a wrong-way collision on I-82 outside of Sunnyside, near Yakima.
The administrative state should be reduce to administrating the laws, not creating them. Any regulation they want should be submitted to Congress as a proposed law. If Congress doesn't pass it, too bad. That would put the kabob on a gas-stove ban. Imagine, having to defend the proposed regulations in front of Congressional committees, with hard questions. What a concept! Congress doing its job.
Recall that Obamacare was imposed on the nation under an arcane legislative maneuver.
Well, if it passed the Senate, it must have had at least 11 votes from Democrats, right?
This is a Congressional Review Act resolution, so it cannot be filibustered. It does however still need majorities in both houses.
The administrative state should be reduce to administrating the laws, not creating them. Any regulation they want should be submitted to Congress as a proposed law.
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Agreed absolutely.
I've been yelling for this for a while. At the very least, any regulation with an impact over a certain amount- say, $100,000- should be subject to congressional approval.
Ooooh...
Republicans won some important victories!
Super important votes there.
Gotta let the Washington Generals score a few points every now and then.
Your excerpt conflates two entirely different and separate things. (1) Oversight of federal regulations under teh Congressional Review Act; and (2) Oversight of bills passed by the District of Columbia council under the D.C. Home Rule Act and Congress' inherent jurisdiction over the seat of government under the Constitution.
The wages of electing 2 animated corpses to the Senate.
Trumka jr the union behind the gas stoves ban was a longtime congressional staffer on oversight
Wins and losses talk must be for media hype.
"An arcane maneuver? So, is it in congress’ procedural books or not? If it is, then I suppose anyone can know about it if they want to."
To be fair, Democrats are the party of "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."
From the article:
"The technique... fits the Republican legislative mind-set, which tends more toward blocking [bad] policy rather than creating it. “We are built to disapprove,” said Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota..."."
Fixed.
The technique... fits the Republican legislative mind-set, which tends more toward blocking policy
The Republicans are nothing but a bunch of “wonk blocking” terminators sent back from the future!
https://vlipsy.com/vlip/dirty-grandpa-cock-blocker-aLO37Jzl
Didn't we just have a post about the "stupid Party"? Where is the tag?
Was the tactic called racist or white supremacist? Or was it just bemoaning a defeat for their team, the democrats?
Sounds like just another way of saying "Republicans pounce."
The existing legislation already is or embodies or incarnates a policy. Not every change is an improvement. The idea that new legislation is about putting effective policies in place, rather than just about pandering, isn't always borne out by experience.
Oh my, they had to debate issues.
Sebastian said:
"force Democrats to debate subjects they would rather avoid....The technique... fits the Republican legislative mind-set, which tends more toward blocking policy"
From which we may infer that Dems like to make policy without debate.
And we can also infer that typical Republican behavior is to lay back and take instead of fighting to their last breath to stop bad policy.
Has Biden returned from feathering his trail in Kiev left from Slavic Spring with "benefits"?
Deep in the bowels of Capitol Street, Republicans unearthed a secret scroll of arcane power and unleashed its dread forgotten magic against the peoples of the United States.
Oh, no, wait. It says farther down that Democrats have also tried to use this but weren't as successful. Things must move fast in Washington. One day it's a utilized rule, the next day it's arcane
Congress has ceded power to the Executive to a horrifying extent. Many sweeping laws are nebulous with proviso that the Secretary of whichever shall promulgate rules.
Non-specific laws passed along to a bureaucrat for the reality of the change. What could go wrong?
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