Did another Senate tradition come to an end this week?
Not exactly. But something very rare did happen and Democrats are using it as a cautionary tale, to warn Republicans not to get too brazen.
Thursday night, Democrats filibustered a Republican-backed provision of President Obama’s jobs bill, because the GOP proposed to pay for it by slashing $30 billion worth of funds for federal programs. Republicans forced the vote to build a counter-narrative that Democrats don’t want to work with them on jobs legislation, even bits of Obama’s own plan.
But by tradition, it’s very rare for minority leaders to force votes on messaging legislation, and one Senate Democratic aide warned this will come back to haunt a future Republican majority.
“This is the Senate version of hardball,” the aide said Thursday night. “We can’t stop Republicans from getting their vote, but we can force them to set a precedent that might come back to bite them in the future.”
A GOP leadership aide confirms that the move was unusual — Republicans last attempted it in 2010 — but notes that both parties have done this in the past. The aide said Republicans notified Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in advance and only resorted to the move because the crowded Senate floor schedule meant it was the only way to get a vote on the measure.
Two weeks ago, Reid set a new precedent in the Senate that prevents the minority from forcing votes on messaging amendments once a filibuster on a bill has been broken.
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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