Newsman: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that he will allow the 50-50 Senate to officially organize so Democrats can take control of key committees in the chamber after a weeklong battle with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over the rights of the minority to stall legislation.
The power-sharing deal had been stuck for days after McConnell demanded that Democrats affirm that they will not dismantle the filibuster, the key stalling tactic that requires 60 votes to overcome in order to advance bills. Without McConnell’s consent, Democrats were unable to get the votes to pass a power-sharing resolution without changing Senate rules.
Schumer has demanded that the Senate agree to the 2001 rules during the last 50-50 Senate when the chamber’s committees had equal representation of both parties, and tie votes on legislation and nominations would go to the floor. Schumer for days has rejected the GOP leader’s demands, saying Monday afternoon: “We are not letting McConnell dictate how the Senate operates.”
McConnell signaled Monday night he would agree to that as well. McConnell pointed to recent comments of two moderate Democratic senators — who have long opposed gutting the filibuster — to argue that they were sufficient to resolve his concerns since Democrats would lack the votes to change the rules.
“With these assurances, I look forward to moving ahead with a power-sharing agreement modeled on that precedent,” the Kentucky Republican said.
In response, Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said in a statement: “We’re glad Senator McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand.”
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McConnell’s announcement is very significant because the stalemate has prevented Senate committees from officially organizing, meaning Republicans still control key committees since the chamber is operating under the rules of the last Congress when the GOP was in charge.
