Democrats v. Democrats: No Bill is an Easy Win

Democrats in Congress have had a hard time getting their initiatives passed. Even popular proposals like ending the war in Iraq, creating renewable energy quotas, and cutting taxes for the middle-class have stalled in Congress.

As the New Year approaches, they’re even having problems getting the basics passed, such as bills authorizing government spending.

One major barrier to making their policy agenda into law is that the Democrats hold only a very slim majority in the Senate (51 to 49), where the minority has the right to block a vote. This procedural block, called a “filibuster,” has hampered Democrats’ efforts, as has the president’s power of veto.

Because of the filibuster, Senate Democrats have to overcome the biggest obstacles in order to pass legislation. In the House, the Democratic majority is larger (233 to 202), and unlike the Senate, a Rules Committee places a limit on debate when a bill goes to the floor.

Although they belong to the same party, House Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi (D-California), have expressed frustration with Senate Democrats, led by Harry Reid (D-Nevada), for failing to pass more Democratic programs. 

But even with less controversial legislation, the Senate has to work more closely with the opposition to get the bill passed. This is due in part to both the power of Senate Committee Chairs, and Majority Leader Reid’s firm belief in the value of the committee process.

The deadlock has resulted in some public sniping between Democratic members of the two chambers, and also some unusually direct negotiations, overseen by Pelosi, between Senate Committee Chairmen and their House counterparts.

The Omnibus bill

Since Democrats have had trouble getting separate spending bills past the opposition in the Senate, they’ve bundled them together into one large bill, expediting the process and making it harder to pick apart.

The bill comes close to the $932.8 billion requested by The White House, but exceeds it by $3.7 billion for veterans’ programs. President Bush has been sharply opposed to any spending over his request, but says he will agree to the extra money for veterans if it is offset elsewhere in the bill.

Further securing passage, Democrats are likely to allow Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) to add $70 billion in war funding through an amendment.

If Senate Democrats stray too far from the president’s request, a Republican filibuster threat is likely. 

With Bush in The White House and a slim minority in the Senate, Republicans have quite a bit of power over legislation.

Why is there a filibuster in the Senate and not the House?

The Senate doesn’t have a Rules Committee. As a result, a bill is informally scheduled to come up on the Senate floor where debate can be endless. A filibuster occurs when a Senator engaged in debate refuses to yield the floor and thus prevents a roll call vote from taking place. Filibusters provide the minority with an opportunity to make their voices heard - or to block the process so that the majority can’t pass their bill.

Pelosi and House Republicans are arguing that Reid and Senate Republicans should do more in the face of a veto threat. They believe that riding out a filibuster threat could work for the Democrats, by exposing what they see as Republican obstructionism on initiatives with broad public support.

But Senate Democrats say that Pelosi is sending over legislation that is too liberal for the Senate – bills that cannot possibly be passed. Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) has argued that Reid has allowed Republicans to follow through with the filibuster threat, for example keeping the Senate open all night for the Iraq War debate and even providing cots for legislators. Bayh argues it didn’t get Senate Democrats anywhere; the dusk-till-dawn discussion didn’t earn Democrats a single vote.

After 12 years in the minority, the Democrats are discovering that even with majorities in both Houses, when the balance of power is nearly perfectly balanced (a Congress nearly split down the middle) it’s hard to get things done.

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