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Democrats find that the devil lies in the procedural tactics |
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By Mike Soraghan
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Posted: 03/27/07 07:39 PM [ET] |
Democratic leaders are talking about how to counter the Republican procedural tactics that stalled the D.C. voting-rights bill last week, but they haven’t settled on what to do.
Some, like House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), would like to see Democrats unite to vote against all such Republican procedural maneuvers, or “motions to recommit.”
“When I got here, that was the first thing they told us — ‘You vote no on those,’” Slaughter said. But she added that now, “That’s not the prevailing view.”
Most Democratic leaders say they don’t want to instruct members how to vote on all such motions, except on motions that would kill a bill that Democrats are trying to pass.
“I don’t think there’s any thought that we’re going to have a standard way to respond to motions to recommit,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), a chief deputy whip. But she said she expects members and leaders to use the upcoming spring recess to regroup and decide what to do.
Meanwhile, Republicans have been buoyed by their ability to disrupt the majority, win some policy fights and highlight fissures in the Democratic Caucus.
“This is something that Democrats are going to have to deal with for the next 21 months,” said Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
When they were in the majority, Republicans sought party loyalty on nearly all procedural motions.
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), vice chairman of the caucus, said it is important to educate newer members on how tradition dictates that the party stick together on procedural votes.
“With the massive agenda we’ve passed, the focus has not been on the nitty-gritty,” Larson said. “There will be greater emphasis ... in the future ... that this is a poison-pill measure.”
Larson added: “We haven’t lost a bill yet.”
But for a moment last week, it looked like they might. The voting-rights bill appeared to be cruising to passage. But late in the debate, Republicans filed their amendment, which would strike down the District’s strict gun laws and send the bill back to committee.
“That’s the problem with these motions: Republicans don’t tell us what’s in them until they’re filed,” DeGette said.
The motion was backed by gun-rights supporters, so Democratic leaders — fearing that their conservative members would support it — sent it back to committee, where it would likely die.
That played out in an awkward series of events on the floor, where Democrats hit their secret safety valve: a previously unnoticed clause in the rule allowing them to postpone the bill indefinitely.
Democrats said they started adding the clause about a month ago after they realized that Republicans were starting to win minor procedural votes that could one day turn major.
The Republicans’ use of the procedural maneuver, often abbreviated to “MTR,” has since become more frequent. The party has so far won six such votes on the floor. Usually, the MTRs were worded to have the effect of an amendment — they “recommitted” a bill to committee for a change, then brought it back to the floor instantly.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said yesterday that more bills are vulnerable to such changes this year because of the Democrats’ “pay-go” rules, which were re-instituted this year. These changes must be paid for as they are adopted, so many more topics are “germane” for amendment.
Democratic leaders are looking for ways to communicate quickly to members that a procedural motion is a “poison pill” to urge them to vote no.
Last week, Hoyer dismissed the Republican procedural maneuvers as being “of little or no substance.” But it was one of his priorities, the D.C. voting bill, that was threatened the next day by the gun motion.
The following day, the whip notice from House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) on the Iraq supplemental contained a new instruction telling members to vote against any motion to recommit. Members said that wasn’t a new policy, but a recognition that any changes could upset the fragile Democratic coalition put together to pass the spending bill.
Hoyer says the D.C. bill will be back on the floor the week of April 16, and he expects Democrats can overcome the GOP’s procedural attack. |
