Senate Republicans Plan To Block Virtually All Democratic-Backed Bills

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans intend to block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending in the current postelection session of Congress, officials said Tuesday, adding that the leadership has quietly collected signatures on a letter pledging to carry out the strategy.

If carried out, it would doom Democratic-backed attempts to end the Pentagon's practice of discharging openly gay members of the military service and give legal status to young illegal immigrants who join the military or attend college.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made both measures a priority as Democrats attempt to enact legislation long sought by groups that supported them in the recent midterm elections.

A nuclear arms treaty with Russia that President Barack Obama wants ratified would not be affected, since any debate would take place under different rules than those that apply to legislation. Even so, its passage is not assured as Republicans are seeking concessions from the White House.

Officials who disclosed the new Republican maneuver did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss it.

It was not known how many of the Senate's 42 Republicans had signed the draft letter, which the leadership intends to make public quickly.

Senate Democrats need 60 votes to overcome any delaying tactics, meaning they could be thwarted if 41 Republicans join in the commitment.

Democrats' chances of passing politically charged legislation will dim when the new Congress convenes in January, since Republicans will take control of the House and gain more Senate seats.

The letter comes after comments by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and others in his party that the voters made it clear in the elections they want lawmakers to focus on economic issues.

"Despite what some Democrats in Congress have suggested, voters did not signal they wanted more cooperation on the Democrats' big-government policies that most Americans oppose," McConnell and incoming House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote in an op-ed article published in the Washington Post.

Comments

[maxhnb]

05:35 PM on 12/02/2010

The strain of malignant vermin have risen in America is from the sewer that is the Republican party. These vile beings seek to pay for their taxcuts with the health, sanity and homes of those who pay their salaries. Those who have elected these tertiary creatures, and who are going to lose their jobs, their unemployment benefits and their homes and their health as byproducts of your new heroes, your only option is to fall on your new elected officials and tell them you will have a long memory and will correct your error as soon as possible. do you think you are immune ?

[Libra28]

02:04 PM on 12/02/2010

Republicans exist in that dark void where light and love are absent.

[Jdaddy1951]

10:04 AM on 12/02/2010

Mitch McConnell will go down in the history books as one of the worst U.S. senators there ever was, alongside of Joe McCarthy and others too foul to mention. The longer the voters deny him Majority Leader status, the more bitter and vindictive he becomes.

[muziker]

01:01 AM on 12/02/2010

"Annonymous" source. There goes the R's credibility for demanding transparency in government. Haha. What a bunch of old fart stooges. They will destroy this country for their personal political agenda and the AMerican citizens be damned.

[jimpager]

11:03 PM on 12/01/2010

What else is new?

[ebanks84]

06:34 PM on 12/01/2010

For those of you who are entirely p!ssed about the republican senators who refuse to do their jobs, please sign the petition below requesting that this process be null and void or those senators will be suspended without pay until they decide to do their jobs.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/theresnoothercom/

The goal is to get at least one million signatures to be presented to congress for a statute to prevent this from ever happening again in the future.

[dimplesmile7]

06:20 PM on 12/01/2010

Repost:

On Chris Matthews MSNBC: Republican­­­­­­­s are refusing to look at all bills until the tax cuts are signed. This means everything like unemployme­­­­­­­nt, Job creation, DADT, Dream Act will not get the light of day because of the GOP obstructin­­­­­­­g everything­­­­­­­. They are committing political black mail. Please pass this link along and get your friends and family members to join us in telling the GOP to get to work for the American people. People are suffering badly and need help while the GOP is whining over tax cuts. Stop the GOP obstructio­­­­­­­n by signing this petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopgopobstructionnow/

[ebanks84]

06:37 PM on 12/01/2010

Just signed your petition my friend. Please reciprocate and sign mine as well. The more the merrier I say :).

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/theresnoothercom/

[Dwight Hales]

09:43 PM on 12/01/2010

I tried to sign the petition at petitionspot.com, but it wanted a whole bunch of information about me from Facebook that it didn't need, anytime it wanted, so I had to Not Allow.

Sorry.

Use a different petition method, then maybe I'll try again.

[jamw]

06:07 PM on 12/01/2010

I'd be more surprised if anyone really thought things would be different. Now we have a signed, sealed and delivered promise for the Repugs to do nothing again. PLEASE get out your pen President Obama before the end of this Congressional session because if you think it was tough before, well I'm sure you are well aware of how it's going to be in January.

[Imzadi]

06:04 PM on 12/01/2010

McConnell just appeared on Ed's show making their declaration of obstruction public. Disgraceful.

[phoebe54]

05:03 PM on 12/02/2010

Even after they take control of the House in January, they still won't have enough clout to pass their own legislation. So....nothing will get done for the next 2 years? I still say, MAKE THEM ACTUALLY FILLIBUSTER, not just threaten. If the rule has been changed, we need to change it back. I'd love to see some old R reading the phone book for 28 hours!

[thepoliticalcat]

05:25 PM on 12/02/2010

It doesn't work that way anymore. These days, our congresscritters can filibuster by stealth. They put a hidden hold on a bill, and don't even have to reveal their names.

[Glory2]

12:07 AM on 12/04/2010

They have no problem letting the people know what their plans are. What I can't understand is why anyone would vote these heartless republicans back into office. They must be the same bunch that voted bush into officce twice. Silly and stupid americans, when will they learn?

[reneestake]

05:31 PM on 12/01/2010

What's new?
check out www.fergusonstake.com

[maxiemom]

05:14 PM on 12/01/2010

So typical. They have a mandate when they win by a slim majority and exit polls clearly show that most Americans don't believe in what they're spewing; however, when the President wins an election by an overwhelming majority the Republican party does everything it can to stop and sabotage the very things people elected him to do. Republicans only hear what they want to hear and do what they want to do; they don't give a damn about the American people unless they're multimillionaires or large corporations.

This is why I have come to thoroughly despise the Republican party.

[muziker]

01:07 AM on 12/02/2010

I consider the Republicans to be the American Communist Party.

[thepoliticalcat]

05:26 PM on 12/02/2010

The American Communist Party actually works FOR the rights of ordinary people. They're fascists.

[Glory2]

12:12 AM on 12/04/2010

The republican party is hitler waving a red white and blue flag. We need to brace ourselfs for the hard hammer that is about to come down on us. God help us all...

[phoebe54]

05:06 PM on 12/02/2010

They talk about how the message from the voters was "less government." I dont think so....IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!! Trying to decrease the deficit is not a smart idea during an economic crisis. If they succeed in the budget cutting, we could plunge much deeper into recession without the traditional safety nets. Maybe then people would take to the streets to protest like they do in other countries--and like we USED to do!

[mrtutto]

05:11 PM on 12/01/2010

Why is this news ? The Republicans have been blocking everything Obama tries to do for 2 years now.

[benjamin harrison]

03:49 PM on 12/02/2010

wow and to think he had the majority in both houses...to be a liberal

[notright guy]

03:30 PM on 12/03/2010

Well actually not true, blue dogs did not vote like dems, more like repubs. Look at the voting record. They are now gone, if liberal choices were actually made things may be a lot different now. Also false since the majority rule of the founding fathers has been subjigated by the right in order to take over, like a malicious virus (a worm) in a computer system. One guy can stop a bill, happened 110+ times in the 110 congress. Sad times.

[jackbond]

04:49 PM on 12/01/2010

Isn't this what members of Al Qaeda would do if elected to congress? Strange to think that Al Qaeda has more integrity than the Republican party in that they're at least honest about their goals.

[Helloise]

04:34 PM on 12/01/2010

This is absolutely classic GOP behavior, taking a reactive, midterm which won them one half of one branch of government as a "mandate" from "the voters" in a country that has consistently shown itself to be divided in half, not to mention that half of the population queried was not even aware of the fact they had won the House. It seems they also neglected to read the exit polls, which found the Republicans in Congress exactly one percentage point more popular than their Dem counterparts. For a party that loves to reference the Founders, they appear to have absolutely no respect for the conventions of good governance, which is based on a balance of powers and compromise, not thuggery.

[Glory2]

12:16 AM on 12/04/2010

The republicans are power hungry terroist and thugs, period. They will stop at nothing to gain power over the less fortunate and hopeless. Where is our leader, I don't hear him?

[dave6686]

04:27 PM on 12/01/2010

I say BRING IT.... this is a f/ght we should ALL want to have.... this along all the blocking and blaming the Rethuglica­ns do will prove to all who voted for them that they are the sc0urge of the earth... I hope they enjoy their last 2 years in office.... they are too arrogant and ignor@nt to understand that the only reason people voted for them is to give them one last chance to do whats right for America & the American People... Those of us who didn't vote for them already know that they are incapable of doing ANYTHING that's right!