Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:39 pm
Democrats squeezed Republicans for a major victory on dozens of Obama nominees while passing the government funding bill
Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken, Sherrod Brown, Ed Markey, Ron Wyden, Amy Klobuchar and others voted against bill. Independent Bernie Sanders also voted against the bill. Republicans Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Tim Scott, Rand Paul, John McCain, Rob Portman, Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee were also among those who voted against the bill.
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Members of the Democratic caucus were opposed to the bill because it weakened a regulation in the Dodd-Frank Act. Bernie Sanders opposed the bill because it slashed public employee pensions while also rolling back campaign finance laws.
A Democratic aide told The Hill that Republicans cut a deal to give Democrats everything they wanted as far as getting President Obama’s nominees confirmed, “It was a rout. They gave us everything.”
Everything in this case involves lifting the Republican filibuster on 24 Obama nominees.
It would be easy to overlook, but Senate Democrats have made sure that the nation will have a Surgeon General and several federal judges appointed.
Liberals fought the good fight, but in the end the dual pressures of wanting to avoid a government shutdown and a desire to go home for Christmas was too much to overcome.
The good news is that the government will be funded through September 2015. The bad news is that the riders that Republicans attached to the bill will be their new way of getting their agenda passed.
This time a majority of Democrats felt that they had to go along with this odious bill. In the future, this tactic will be certain to face presidential vetoes and solid Democratic opposition.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
