Adam Gentelson was an aide to Senator Harry Reid. He saw how Republicans put up obstacles to Obama’s
governance and were unafraid to employ every tool and strategy to stop what they opposed.
Democrats in the Senate could force Republicans to slow down and compromise if they have spine.
“As a Democratic Senate aide for the past seven years, I had a front-row seat to an impressive show of obstruction. Republicans, under then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, decided they would oppose President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at every turn to limit their power. And it worked: They extorted concessions from Democrats with threats of shutdowns, fiscal cliffs and financial chaos. I know firsthand that Democrats’ passion for responsible governance can be exploited by Republicans who are willing to blow past all norms and standards.
“Now we have a president who exemplifies that willingness in the extreme. Partly, this explains why he faces more questions about his legitimacy than any president in recent history and why he drew three times as many protesters as inauguration attendees last weekend. But in something of a mismatch, Republicans’ unified control of government means that the most effective tool for popular resistance lies in the Senate — the elite, byzantine institution envisioned by the founders as the saucer that cools the teacup of popular opinion.
“Senate Democrats have a powerful tool at their disposal, if they choose to use it, for resisting a president who has no mandate and cannot claim to embody the popular will. That tool lies in the simple but fitting act of withholding consent. An organized effort to do so on the Senate floor can bring the body to its knees and block or severely slow down the agenda of a president who does not represent the majority of Americans.
“ The procedure for withholding consent is straightforward, but deploying it is tricky. For the Senate to move in a timely fashion on any order of business, it must obtain unanimous support from its members. But if a single senator objects to a consent agreement, McConnell, now majority leader, will be forced to resort to time-consuming procedural steps through the cloture process, which takes four days to confirm nominees and seven days to advance any piece of legislation — and that’s without amendment votes, each of which can be subjected to a several-day cloture process as well.
“McConnell can ask for consent at any time, and if no objection is heard, the Senate assumes that consent is granted. So the 48 senators in the Democratic caucus must work together — along with any Republicans who aren’t afraid of being targeted by an angry tweet — to ensure that there is always a senator on the floor to withhold consent. Because every Senate action requires the unanimous consent of members from all parties, everything it does is a leverage point for Democrats.
“For instance, each of the 1,000-plus nominees requiring Senate confirmation — including President Trump’s Cabinet choices — can be delayed for four days each. While the tactic works well, as we’ve seen for the past eight years, there remains the question of strategy. Should Democrats be pragmatic and let Trump have his nominees on a reasonable timetable, so as not to appear obstructionist? So far, this has been their approach to some of Trump’s Cabinet picks.
“ But it’s also fair to say that, by nominating a poorly qualified and ethically challenged Cabinet, Trump forfeited his right to a speedy confirmation process, and Democrats should therefore slow it down to facilitate the adequate vetting that Trump and Senate Republicans are determined to avoid by rushing the process before all the questionnaires and filings are submitted. Four days of scrutiny on the Senate floor per nominee, even after the committee hearings, is a reasonable standard for fulfilling the Senate’s constitutional responsibility of advice and consent.
“ Democrats can also withhold their consent from every piece of objectionable legislation McConnell tries to advance. With 48 senators in their caucus, they have the votes to block most bills. But even when Democrats don’t have the votes, they can force McConnell to spend time jumping through procedural hoops. This is the insight McConnell deployed against Reid to manufacture the appearance of gridlock, forcing him to use the cloture process more than 600 times.”
Will Democrats in the Senate dare to do to Trump what Republicans did to Obama?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
NO
When even Warren and Sanders sold out by passing on Carson, and
and over a dozen others betrayed the Dems and all of us with Pharma, why would anyone think the Dems will ever work in unison?
How does this aide rationalize that Bannon now rules the NSA, with Trump firing the Joint Chiefs leadership and installing this Breitbart bigot as the ruler?
We are in the midst of a huge rollover and democracy is teetering, and now Putin is anointed as our close ally. The damage Trump did this week may never be reversed. The airport police are ignoring the NJ judge’s ruling and they are following Bannon and Trump and confining/deporting foreigners. If this continues, there will be concentration camps set up in the near future.
There was no mistaking Trump not mentioning Jews murdered in Europe on Holocaust Memorial day…and concurrently appointing Bannon to head the NSA. And no coincidence that Trump said he will only let Christians enter the US.
DeVos is the least of our worries. If teachers don’t wake up and see the BIG picture, and join the resistance, they will fall to these new fascist overlords.
The percentage of spineless Democratic Senators is astounding.
Can’t get any more than 100%.
Will and guts are in short order among Democrats. Unlike conservatives, they generallyfail to unite and act in concert. As a result, they usually have a few defectors that will go over to the dark side. Unless they can assert their unity, the Republicans will ignore them.
In D.C., Democratic politicians are tied to CAP, which is funded by the Walton’s. After the presidential defeat, Politico interviewed CAP’s Pres., who had shared the helm of Hillary’s campaign. The President’s response to the defeat, as described by Politico’s reporter,
“CAP pushes (to make) Dems once again the opposition.”
It seems highly unlikely they will ever be the opposition to Republicans, since the Walton’s are spending $1 bil. to privatize schools, which is the Republican agenda- privatizing America’s most important common good, the one that teaches shared values, respect for differing opinions and, the fundamentals of democracy.
I seriously doubt that the Democrats will have the nerve or spine to be full fledged obstructionists in the manner of the GOP. The Democrats are more or less a conventional political party while the GOP is a rabid radicalized vicious movement with an out of control demagogue as its leader. So many Democrats are at risk; the ones who come from conservative red states or states dominated by the GOP. They are walking on thin ice. And then there are the DINOs, conservoDems and corporate Democrats.
No matter what the Democrats do, the GOP will accuse them of being obstructionist if they don’t cave into the GOP 100%. Chris Wallace was interviewing Dick Durbin and used the O (obstructionist) word when describing the Democrats. Wallace asked why the Democrats were being so obstructionist, I kid you not.
The Dems should be obstructionist or Trump will blow up the government and the world. He has already put Bannon on the National Security Council–the former editor of Breitbart!– and told the director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that they should appear only when their agency is directly involved. Steve Bannon is in charge of national security with crazy Mike Flynn and his “Flynn-facts”
Thanks for sharing this, Diane. It helps provide clarification on what the Democrats can and cannot do to stop or slow the nomination process.
Folks, when the leaders do not lead, it’s up to the people to give them directions. If the Democratic leaders fail to act, whose fault is that? Let’s stop blaming them and start calling and visiting them instead. As we found out at the Women’s March, we are many!
“Should the Democrats be pragmatic and let Trump have his nominees on a reasonable timetable, so as not to appear obstructionist?”
He should ask that of the refugees who have been detained and all the others who will suffer very real consequences of this Trump regime. With all the new activists engaged in politics and taking advice on Tea Party tactics in the Indivisible Guide, the votes of every elected official are being tracked for challenges to future elections. I suspect Democrats will learn the hard way from that these confirmations and going along with disgraceful policies will be the epicenter of the campaigns against them. And they’ll deserve it.
We DO NEED TO hold the DEMs accountable.
The question as I see it;
Do WE have the guts and determination to do what is necessary to take our country back, restore democratic principles?
The women’s march is a GREAT beginning
tut
it is only a beginning like Occupy Wall Street was.
Based on reported tweets, tech billionaire wives, Laurene Powell Jobs and Melinda Gates, glommed onto the Women’s March. IRONY.
Linda,
Phonies.
It is not a matter of will they. Each democrat is so pleased to get the microphone that there is no plan to which they all will agree to adhere. We need leadership and a single song sheet that has the notes of the democratic base and we need to hold all of them accountable or “primary” them.
Third Party.
Democrats lost 900 state legislative seats under Obama, a significant number of governorships, U.S. House and Senate majorities and, the U.S. Presidency, to an unfit jerk.
The wrecking crew will continue to do a marvelous job of wrecking until the Democrats quit wringing their hands and actually do something to obstruct the carnage. I haven’t (so far) seen any evidence this will happen. Yes. Primary them.
The Democratic politicians deceive with the same lie, calling charter contractors, “public”, when the firms are no more public entities, than Boeing.
Expect groveling from them and their staffs, in the “safe space” of the Gates-funded Aspen, Senior Congressional Education Staff Network. If a vote will make no difference in outcome, they may sheepishly move from the Republican agenda to the Republican- lite agenda.
The Democratic Party’s “big tent” philosophy and anti-authoritarianism works against unity. The Republicans are happy to alienate a large segment of the population as long as they can remain in control and they can impose the unregulated capitalism beloved of their largest donors. The Democrats actually want to listen to people and forge a consensus. They actually want and value a democracy.