updated Dec 11
So why didn't the Dems blackmail the republicans with not passing this bill to the last second or vetoing it
Congress to send defense bill to Trump with veto-proof majorities
By
Karoun Demirjian
Dec. 11, 2020 at 1:35 p.m. EST
The Senate passed a $741 billion defense authorization bill on Friday, sending it to President Trump with veto-proof majorities in both chambers of Congress and effectively daring him to make good on his threat to scuttle the legislation.
The tally was 84 to 13.
In recent weeks, Trump has escalated his promises to veto the annual legislation, which directs funding for the Pentagon on everything from overseas operations to health care for civilian and uniformed personnel.
Trump’s threats began over the summer, when he vowed to stymie the legislation if it included a directive to the Defense Department to rename installations commemorating Confederate figures. More recently, he has demanded that the bill repeal an unrelated law granting technology companies liability protections against content that users post to their websites.
Trump has not sounded off about his pledged veto since the House passed the defense bill on Tuesday, by a vote of 335 to 78, a veto-proof majority. But should he still elect to veto the bill, he could complicate lawmakers’ efforts to complete the legislation, which has been signed into law for each of the last 59 years, before it expires at the end of the congressional session on Jan. 3.
***Pelosi is oozing weakness and Trump and the Republicans are trying to split the democrats. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to get another speaker? The whole system of the speaker of the house and the senate magority leader doesn't work...it doesn't serve our nation and country. The whole deal is too secrecy driven. Both these leaders get way too much campaign money to influence their members. We need major reforms with the House and Senate. Too many secret agendas through black money.
Defund the police took away so much opportunity for the democrats.
Pelosi looks to lock down speaker's vote in shadow of coronavirus
The longtime Democratic leader faces tight margins, and Covid could complicate her math.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's thinner majority will require a near-perfect showing from rank-and-file Democrats to again lock down the speakership. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
By SARAH FERRIS, JOHN BRESNAHAN and HEATHER CAYGLE
12/11/2020 04:30 AM EST
Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a blunt message for her junior members: I need your vote on Jan. 3.
That’s the opening day of the 117th Congress, and Pelosi was making her pitch ahead of the crucial floor vote for speaker. No one on Capitol Hill believes Pelosi is really at risk of losing the gavel. But the vote has become much more complicated with a shrunken Democratic majority and the coronavirus pandemic shadowing the proceedings.
“If someone votes for Colin Powell, it counts for the GOP,” Pelosi warned the group at a virtual breakfast Wednesday, adding: “We need people to vote with the nominee. That would be me.”
Pelosi and her allies have been ratcheting up their lobbying campaign in recent weeks to ensure House Democrats are in the Capitol that first Sunday in January. Pelosi has had help from her top deputies, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), according to several sources familiar with the effort. She and her supporters have also deployed former Obama administration alumni and big donors to help squeeze undecided Democrats, in addition to influential politicians and labor leaders in lawmakers’ home states.
House Democrats are expected to hold 222 seats on Jan. 3 versus 212 for Republicans, if all members are in attendance, say lawmakers and aides in both parties. Rep. Anthony Brindisi’s (D-N.Y.) tight race against Republican Claudia Tenney may not be called by then.
According to House rules, Pelosi must win a majority of votes cast “for a person by name” of the members who are in attendance and voting. So Pelosi can afford to allow a handful of her members to vote “present,” but a vote for anyone else is more problematic. In January 2019, some Democrats cast votes for Joe Biden, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), among others, as an alternative to Pelosi. With the narrower Democratic margin next year, that won’t work for the speaker.
“I think it’s a lot tougher for her this time,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), a senior Democrat who opposed Pelosi as speaker in 2019. Schrader said in an interview he’s still undecided, but several top Democrats said they expect him to support Pelosi this time.
“It’s not all black and white. Everyone wants it to be all or none but that’s not the way it works,” he added.
BY NICK NIEDZWIADEK
Pelosi’s thinner majority will require a near-perfect showing from rank-and-file Democrats to again lock down the speakership, a far more difficult task in a year when the coronavirus has sidelined dozens of members over the course of the year.
One shift in Pelosi’s favor is that she will have far fewer Democrats to flip this time around compared with her 2019 bid, when she had to confront a whole group of disgruntled rebels. That negotiation ended with her agreeing to term limits, allowing her to return to the speaker’s chair after an eight-year absence with the upcoming two years in theory her last.
But with less room for error, Pelosi and her allies have begun applying pressure with hopes of winning over several of the defectors who opposed her in the past.
The lobbying blitz hasn’t gone without hiccups. House Rules Chair Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a Pelosi ally, angered moderates after he wrote in a letter to the caucus that a vote for anyone other than Pelosi would be a vote for “the QAnon wing of the Republican Party.”
Still, Pelosi already has flipped several key Democrats, some without any direct outreach. Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, a senior Blue Dog, told POLITICO this month he would support her. Cooper voted “present” last time. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado also plans to back Pelosi after voting for Duckworth in 2019. And Democratic sources predicted Schrader will likely vote “yes” as well. Schrader voted for Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio two years ago.
“I’m going to talk to anybody and everybody. I think it’s absolutely essential that we be able to elect our speaker,” Hoyer said in an interview. Asked about any floor issues, Hoyer said: “I think we’ll get there.”
At least two Democrats plan to vote against Pelosi on the floor: Reps. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania and Jared Golden of Maine, according to several sources. A third, Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, could also vote “no,” though she declined to comment in a recent interview. All three voted for other candidates last time.
Pelosi does have one way to release the pressure valve with other swing-district moderates: Several Democrats can vote “present” instead of “no” on the floor, which would shore up her path to the speakership without putting vulnerable Democrats on the spot.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan confirmed Thursday that she plans to vote “present” on the floor, as she did in 2019.
“I made a pledge in the spring of 2019, before I was elected. I’ve discussed that personally with [Pelosi], one on one,” Slotkin said in an interview. “That, to me, is a commitment that I made to my district. It just doesn’t change based on the ups and downs here.”
Democrats are closely circling another national security freshman, Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, who could vote “present.” Reps. Kathleen Rice of New York and Ron Kind of Wisconsin, vocal Pelosi opponents in 2019, have also said they are undecided.
Of the 15 Democrats who voted against Pelosi on the floor in 2019, 10 survived reelection. An eleventh, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, has since switched to the Republican Party.
Making sure everyone is in attendance for several key early January votes is also on the minds of leaders of both parties. The Capitol physician has privately advised that members should be summoned back to Washington as early as Dec. 27 to ensure the House can safely hold its first vote on Jan. 3, although that is not official guidance, according to lawmakers and aides.
A single Democrat forced to stay home because of an infection or quarantine period — not to mention other health issues — could upset Pelosi’s careful balancing act. It could also complicate other key floor votes, such as the vote to certify the votes of the Electoral College for President-elect Joe Biden. That vote takes place on Jan. 6.
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Lawmakers heading into the Biden administration like Fudge or Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) shouldn’t affect the math; they are expected to remain in the House until Jan. 20, when Biden is sworn in.
“The only way she won’t win is — I’m always a little nervous about Covid. That’s the most frightening aspect of this. But it’s a problem for both sides,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said.
Update Dec 7
Out of all of this, Trump is a given and there nothing new. The Democrats have behaved abysmally and this pretends a very difficult next for years.
I bet you Trump is going to precipitate a economic and market crash to weaken the Biden presidency years?
I guess for the democrats they think it is more important to win the Georgia election that fix widespread starvation in the USA. The mealy mouth Democrats we see today really worries me. This is all high a high stake situation and lives will be staved or died with the outcome. Will the democrats hold their tongues and always cave to win a few republicans votes next election for the next four years? Be afraid to use the full power we gave them. Right, the Democrat's are sitting the stage with the Republicans for the next. Will they use their full power to confront these republican psychopaths or will it just be a pat on the ass to punish these guys for the serious transgression against our way of life and our constitution. What about dum dum Biden hinting a stimulus check might still be in the cards? The crooked Republicans will only respond to a over whelming show of force. I still feel the republicans strategized with this weak covid response, to put the country into a terribly unstable condition so as to weaken Biden opening presidency. I guarantee you if it is seen Biden floundering around in the opening stages of the presidency, the public will turn against him. He will have a failed presidency in the worst crisis this nation ever had. God help us all if we have a failed presidency!
I never seen this coming. So the skinny bill is not happening. It will all be in the year end spending bill. The Republicans have all the cards. Like I said, now the dems need to blackmail the Republicans with shutting down the gov with the spending bill. We won't let you startup the government until we get that 3 or 4 trillion covid money. Even if we get the two senators, you know, the republicans will do nothing but obstruct Biden's government.
"The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend."
***Seems the $900 million dollar stimulus program is going to get passed. The much wider multi-trillion dollar program seems to going into the Dec 11 debt appropriation bill. Remember Trump threatened to not sign this bill.
I see this as a widespread ploy by the republicans to split the democrat's party. This is a far sighed strategy. Already the left-wing says they won't sign the skinny bill. The left is terribly upset about the skinny bill and they feel left out.
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