Eschewing Essential Legislation, Democrats Waste The Senate’s Time On More Show Votes

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Is ‘Planning Another Show Vote … That Already Failed Earlier This Year’

“The Senate will vote Tuesday on the Right to IVF Act, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced in a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter Sunday. Senate Democrats are looking to revive the issue in the home stretch of the 2024 campaign. It’s the same bill that Schumer teed up for a messaging vote over the summer. Republicans blocked it at the time, arguing it was a political ploy intended to boost vulnerable Democrats.” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/16/2024)

“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is moving judicial nominations and planning another show vote on an IVF bill that already failed earlier this year. There could also be a messaging vote on the long-stalled rail safety bill.” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/13/2024)

·       “Schumer has held these types of ‘show votes’ over the last few months on abortion rights and gun control.” (Axios, 9/11/2024)

Democrats Aren’t Even Bothering To Pretend That It’s Anything More Than A Political Ploy

“The Senate will be doing some messaging of its own this week, teeing up a fresh vote tomorrow on Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill) Right to IVF Act.” (Politico’s “Playbook,” 9/16/2024)

“Democrats are looking to revive the issue in the home stretch of the 2024 campaign.” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/16/2024)

·       “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will give Vice President Kamala Harris a helping hand…” (Axios, 9/11/2024)

·       “The tactic will also be a helping hand to Schumer's Democratic Senate candidates, particularly those running against two incumbent GOP lawmakers.” (Axios, 9/11/2024)

Senate Republicans Have Repeatedly Reiterated Their Support For Access To IVF

“Senate Republicans attempted to advance a proposal of their own that would discourage states from banning IVF in June, but Senate Democrats blocked it.” (“Schumer Announces Senate To Vote On IVF Bill A Second Time Tuesday,” Washington Examiner, 9/15/2024)

·       “All 49 Senate Republicans signed a statement released Thursday ahead of the vote saying that ‘Senate Democrats have embraced a Summer of Scare Tactics.’ It’s ‘a partisan campaign of false fearmongering intended to mislead and confuse the American people. In vitro fertilization is legal and available in every state across our nation,’ they wrote. ‘We strongly support continued nationwide access to IVF, which has allowed millions of aspiring parents to start and grow their families.’” (USA Today, 6/13/2024)

While The Democratic Senate Majority Wastes More Time On Political Show Votes, Time Is Running Out On Must-Pass Legislation That Democrats Still Refuse To Put On The Floor

“Congress has been stuck in neutral for months, doing little of substance.” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/13/2024)

‘The Senate’s NDAA, Meanwhile, Is Still Idling,’ Increasing ‘The Odds That The Bill Will Not Come To The Senate Floor At All This Year’

“Beyond keeping the government open, the must-pass annual defense authorization bill needs to get done.” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/13/2024)

“The Senate’s NDAA, meanwhile, is still idling…. The Senate’s abbreviated and crowded election-year calendar leaves little time for an NDAA debate, which ordinarily takes more than one work week…. The upshot is that deferring action on the NDAA until September at the earliest increases the odds that the bill will not come to the Senate floor at all this year …” (“Countdown To August Recess Creates Time Crunch For NDAA,” CQ Defense, 7/29/2024)

·       “Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said the time has already passed for getting Senate action on the NDAA before the August recess, and he is pessimistic about passing even after the summer break. Addressing reporters [in July], Wicker said: ‘We’re going to be gone til after Labor Day, and there’s going to be too much on the floor then. The perfect time to have taken it up would be this week.’” (“Countdown To August Recess Creates Time Crunch For NDAA,” CQ Defense, 7/29/2024)

REMINDER: The Senate Armed Service Committee Approved Its Version Of The NDAA, Readying It For Floor Consideration, In JUNE

“The House narrowly passed its version of the nation’s annual defense policy bill on [June 14^th]…. Attention now turns to the Senate, where the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its own version [the night before].” (“Dueling Versions Of FY ‘25 National Defense Authorization Act Advance In House And Senate, Major Differences Remain,” 13News Now Hampton Roads, 6/14/2024)

‘The Senate Hasn’t Passed Any Of The FY2025 Spending Bills’

“The Senate hasn’t passed any of the FY2025 spending bills.” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/13/2024)

·       “[T]he Senate Appropriations Committee has now approved nearly all of the FY2025 spending bills…. In sum, the committee has approved 11 of the 12 spending bills … Despite this progress at the committee level, none of the spending bills have reached the Senate floor yet.” (Punchbowl News Midday, 8/01/2024)

·       “The big complaint we hear from GOP senators is that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer isn’t prioritizing appropriations bills for floor time.” (Punchbowl News AM, 7/31/2024)

“Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top Senate GOP appropriator, is warning that failure to finish the FY2025 appropriations process before the end of this year would put the new president ‘at a huge disadvantage.’ Whoever it is will come into office and immediately have to deal with getting funding bills passed even while staffing up a new administration. ‘We need to get our work done as soon as possible,’ Collins said.” (Punchbowl News AM, 9/13/2024)