Regarding that Senate "power sharing arrangement" that has set some folks' hair on fire [View all]

[StarfishSaver]

The press is doing a disservice by saying that Schumer and McConnell have reached a "power sharing arrangement," as if Schumer is giving McConnell something he doesn't already have.

That's not what's happening.

What is being discussed relates mostly to how committees will operate in a 50-50 Senate. Committee membership is based on the numbers of Republicans and Democrats in the larger body. When the Senate is 50-50, committee membership is also usually 50-50. And the Vice President has no tie-breaking role, since they only break ties in floor votes. Under normal Senate rules, it's difficult for measures to get out of committee and to the floor on a tie vote. Things get stalled, the minority party (i.e., the party without the Vice President) can exercise outsized power, etc.

So, they're working out how to manage this and they're using the rules set in 2001 when the Senate was 50-50. The plan they're discussing would make Schumer the Majority Leader, give all of the committee chairs to the Democrats, and allow tie votes on bills and nominations to be sent out of committee to the floor.

In reality, the 50-50 split in committee means the two parties already share power. This arrangement simply works out how that shared power will work so that Senate business isn't forever stuck in committee and Republicans can't cause mischief they would no doubt do without such an arrangement.

I hope this helps folks calm down. Schumer is not "caving" and he's not "giving away power." He's doing exactly what he needs to do to make sure the Senate Democrats can more easily and effectively advance their agenda, which was the point of fighting for a Democratic Senate majority.

This is much ado about nothing.