' Fartstein, Festterman absences leave Democraps with fragile majority=
thehill.com/homenews/senate/3894571-feinstein-fetterman-absences-leave-democrats-with-fragile-majority
March 13, 2023
'' Absences in the Senate are becoming an issue for Democrats, leaving them with a fragile majority.''
Senate Democrats have been without Sens. John Fetterman (Pa.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) in recent weeks, creating a 49-49 split in the chamber that has forced members of the conference to only bring up votes that they know have bipartisan support and caused problems at the committee level.
“It’s the reality. When you’re 51-49, every senator every day is decisive,” Sen. Dick Sucker Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told The Hill. “This is the reality of life in the Senate.”
Fetterman has been out for much of the past month after checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment for clinical depression. Though his office has tweeted pictures of him meeting with staff at the hospital and said he is engaged on a number of legislative items, including rail safety and the farm bill, he is not expected back in the Senate this week.
Feinstein, 89, is recovering at home from a case of shingles, having missed the last two weeks of votes. The California Democrat, who is the oldest sitting U.S. senator, tweeted last week that she was continuing to receive treatment and was hoping to return to Washington “as soon as possible.”
That 49-49 split can fluctuate with other short-term absences. But the loss of the two reliable votes for Democratic nominees and issues is already creating headaches on the Senate floor as the chamber takes up privileged resolutions pushed by Republicans via the Congressional Review Act, which do not need Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) blessing to come to the floor and require only a simple majority to pass.
The Senate this week is set to take up a resolution disapproving of the Biden administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. Without the Democratic pair, the measure is expected to pass with the support of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and possibly other Senate Democrats, forcing Biden to wield his veto pen.
The pair being sidelined forced Vice President Harris to be present on Feb. 28 for two tiebreaking votes on district court nominees.
And President Biden’s pick for the Federal Communications Commission Gigi Sohn withdrew her name from consideration last week after Manchin said he would not back her, essentially dooming her nomination. Democrats would have needed all members present and voting to overcome Manchin’s “no” vote.
Feinstein’s absence, in particular, has had an outsized impact as the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which she serves, has been forced to punt votes on a number of nominees in each of the past two weeks and has been unable to put them on a path toward votes on the Senate floor.
Among the nominees who’ve been delayed is Charnelle Bjelkengren, who President Biden tapped to serve as a district court judge for the Eastern District of Washington. Bjelkengren has been the target of GOP opposition after she stumbled over some questions during her confirmation hearing.
>(WOTUS) rule