livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
Time is running out to confirm top federal judges in 2018.
With five months left until the 2018 elections, Congress’s legislative agenda is sure to produce, well, a whole lot of nothing. The reasons for legislative gridlock are simple. The Senate is divided 51-49 (effectively 50-49 with John McCain in Arizona undergoing cancer treatment), the 60-vote hurdle for most legislation remains intact, and there is little interest in bipartisan dealmaking. The recently-passed bill reforming the Dodd-Frank banking law, on which some Democrats and Republicans were willing to compromise, is probably a high-water mark for 2018.
When it comes to the budget reconciliation process—the Senate’s special procedure to bypass the filibuster with a simple majority—Republicans likely enacted most of what they could get on a party-line vote in December 2017 when they passed tax reform, scrapped Obamacare’s individual mandate, and opened up energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On May 20, White House budget director and former congressman Mick Mulvaney was asked at a Weekly Standard conference what the odds are of major legislation passing Congress before the midterm elections. “Zero,” he replied, adding later that something “might” pass on immigration.
With the prospect of legislative victories dim, Senate Republicans would appear to have plenty of time to focus on confirming federal judges. It’s a priority of both conservatives and the GOP establishment and about the only way congressional Republicans can achieve something tangible. Since the inauguration of President Trump, the Senate has confirmed a record 21 judges to the powerful federal appeals courts—more than double the number of appellate judges confirmed under the previous three presidents during their first 16 months in office.
More at ...
Why McConnell Canceled August Recess
With five months left until the 2018 elections, Congress’s legislative agenda is sure to produce, well, a whole lot of nothing. The reasons for legislative gridlock are simple. The Senate is divided 51-49 (effectively 50-49 with John McCain in Arizona undergoing cancer treatment), the 60-vote hurdle for most legislation remains intact, and there is little interest in bipartisan dealmaking. The recently-passed bill reforming the Dodd-Frank banking law, on which some Democrats and Republicans were willing to compromise, is probably a high-water mark for 2018.
When it comes to the budget reconciliation process—the Senate’s special procedure to bypass the filibuster with a simple majority—Republicans likely enacted most of what they could get on a party-line vote in December 2017 when they passed tax reform, scrapped Obamacare’s individual mandate, and opened up energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On May 20, White House budget director and former congressman Mick Mulvaney was asked at a Weekly Standard conference what the odds are of major legislation passing Congress before the midterm elections. “Zero,” he replied, adding later that something “might” pass on immigration.
With the prospect of legislative victories dim, Senate Republicans would appear to have plenty of time to focus on confirming federal judges. It’s a priority of both conservatives and the GOP establishment and about the only way congressional Republicans can achieve something tangible. Since the inauguration of President Trump, the Senate has confirmed a record 21 judges to the powerful federal appeals courts—more than double the number of appellate judges confirmed under the previous three presidents during their first 16 months in office.
More at ...
Why McConnell Canceled August Recess
