Mastodawn

#Republicans in #Congress have been remarkably compliant this year as #Trump has usurped their constitutional pre-eminence on fundamental matters such as #spending, #tariffs & #WarPowers. But in 2 areas, #GOP senators have put up firm resistance that is increasingly frustrating Trump.

#law #shutdown #Senate

When it comes to preserving the legislative #filibuster & controlling the confirmation of #USattorneys, #Republicans are so far holding their ground in the face of intensifying White House pressure to jettison #Senate practices that #Trump sees as holding him back. In both cases, the rules empower senators on a personal & political level in a way that they are reluctant to surrender — even to a demanding president whom they rarely challenge.

It has not discouraged #Trump from trying, as the government #shutdown drags into a sixth, record-breaking week & #Democrats continue to block a bill to reopen. In a social media post Tuesday, Trump again called for his party to gut the #filibuster, the tactic that allows a single senator to block final action on any major #legislation unless 60 votes can be found to move forward.

“If we do terminate the Filibuster, we will get EVERYTHING approved, like no Congress in History,” Trump wrote.🙄

A chief fear of wary #Republicans is that if they were to jettison the #filibuster, #Democrats would likewise be able to get everything they wanted approved when they returned to power. Republicans don’t seem ready to cave just yet to #Trump, whom they see as shortsighted….

“There just simply aren’t the votes to get rid of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold,” Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, said on Monday on Fox News Radio. He said that neutering the #filibuster would ultimately make #Republicans responsible for #legislation #Democrats would push through.

In reality, the #filibuster also serves #Republicans as a handy check on a president who sometimes takes stances that carry substantial risk or defy party orthodoxy, an excuse for #Senate Republicans to avoid doing things they don’t see as sound #policy or #politics without infuriating #Trump. Eliminating the filibuster would also be a huge blow to the credibility of Thune, who has pledged to preserve it.

The ability to #filibuster also amplifies the #influence of each senator, allowing any one member of the body to threaten to slow or block #legislation if his or her demands aren’t met, a regular #Senate ritual.

The fight over federal prosecutors [#USattorneys] gets much less attention than the fate of the famed filibuster, but it is clearly vexing #Trump & presenting real complications for the White House as it seeks to pursue criminal charges against Trump’s perceived enemies.

#law #USpol

“You know, I have 10 U.S. attorneys who are phenomenal, phenomenal — a Harvard or Yale, a this, a that — all top,” #Trump said during last month’s White House luncheon with #Senate #Republicans as he went on an extended rant about the prosecutorial blockage. “And the problem is they’re not going to ever be confirmed, I guess. I put them in, they’ll be there for three or four months, whatever it is, & then they have to leave.”

#law #Congress #USpol

The cause of #Trump’s anger is the #Senate blue slip tradition, which gives home-state senators virtual veto power over whether certain #justice-related nominees can advance, forcing the White House to seek their consent. While its influence has been diluted on appeals court judges, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the chair of the #Judiciary Cmte, has kept the practice in place for district court judges, federal prosecutors & US marshals—personnel matters where senators like to play a role…

#law

…Lacking Democratic consent on its choices, the admin can only legally install prosecutors in a temporary capacity for 120 days — the “3 or 4 months” #Trump mentioned. But the post must then be vacated & filled by a selection by district court judges if no nominee can be confirmed.

The issue looms particularly large in Virginia, where #LindseyHalligan, the #USattorney hand-picked by Trump, is prosecuting #JamesComey, the former #FBI director, and the #NYAG, #LetitiaJames.

#law #Congress