Christian Smith
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) is shifting into campaign mode as he plans a series of messaging votes on border security, access to contraceptives and other hot-button issues.
The move reflects a broad recognition within the Senate that there is little chance of passing substantive legislation by Election Day, as lawmakers prepare for a grueling campaign.
Schumer has largely avoided so-called “show votes” on bills that have little chance of passing because for most of this Congress — and during Democrats’ first two years in the Senate majority in 2021 and 2022 — he wanted to focus on legislation that could actually become law.
But senators don’t expect much else to be done before the election other than confirming judges and executive branch nominees now that Congress has safely approved $61 billion in funding for Ukraine, the bills of annual appropriations for fiscal year 2024 and a five-year budget. year of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization.
“We’re getting closer and closer to the election,” said a Democratic senator who requested anonymity to explain Schumer’s new focus on vote transmission.
“The question is: what can we do for the rest of the year?” the lawmaker asked, noting that top priorities — Ukraine funding, government funding, the reauthorization of warrantless surveillance and the FAA — have already been accomplished.
Democrats are increasingly nervous about losing their Senate majority as polls released last week showed President Biden trailing. five battle statesincluding Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, which also host Senate races.
Many Democratic senators are concerned that border security has become a political liability for Biden, but they see an advantage over Republicans on women’s health issues, especially abortion rights.
O Senate will vote on Thursday to advance a bipartisan border security agreement that garnered just four Republican votes when it reached the floor as part of an emergency foreign aid package in February.
Senate Republicans, including the bill’s co-author, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), say they will vote overwhelmingly to block the legislation again on Thursday, even though it was endorsed earlier this year by the National Patrol Council of Frontier, the US Chamber of Commerce and the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal.
That’s something Schumer and other Democrats say will be a good talking point in campaign ads and on the stump this fall as they face a barrage of Republican attacks over border security.
“Three months ago, Donald Trump told his Republican allies to block the strongest bipartisan border security law in a generation. Hopefully, we will try again tomorrow, and I hope this time Republicans will join us in achieving a different result,” Schumer said Wednesday.
Schumer tried to draw more attention to Thursday’s vote by bringing it forward earlier this month and holding a press conference on Wednesday afternoon focused on the fentanyl flow across the southern border.
But Schumer and other Democrats know full well that the bill is only expected to get two or three GOP votes at most.
They know there is essentially no chance of getting Republicans to support any border security legislation or proposals to protect women’s access to reproductive health, which is why they plan to hammer their Republican colleagues with political messaging votes.
Schumer also announced on the Senate floor Wednesday that he will schedule a vote next month on the Right to Contraception Act, which Democrats hope to use to further highlight rulings by conservative judges that have limited women’s access to health care, including abortion.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, said Democrats plan to highlight their political and political differences with Republicans on other issues, but declined to say what other messaging bills are to come.
“You will have to wait anxiously to determine what comes next, but there will be other opportunities,” she said.
Republicans, however, are ignoring the votes, considering them unlikely to do much to protect vulnerable Democratic candidates such as Senators Jon Tester (Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio).
“This is actually, at this point, purely and simply a political ploy, and I think most people are going to see it that way,” said Senate Republican leader John Thune (SD).
He said the issue is “rooted” in how many voters view Republicans and Democrats, as polls show voters trust the Republican Party more to handle border security.
“There’s no way [Democrats] you can get away from it. They own it. Its incumbents are the owners,” Thune said.
Lankford, the bill’s lead Republican author, said there is “no doubt” the bill would improve the situation at the border, but said Schumer will not bring it to the floor with a sincere desire for it to pass.
“This is not trying to accomplish something. Now it’s about messaging,” he said.
Senate Democrats say they expect Schumer to set up further votes on other bills related to women’s access to health care and reproductive rights later this year.
Schumer forced Republicans to vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act in May 2022 after a draft opinion from the Supreme Court majority decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which repealed the right to abortion, was leaked to the public.
Republicans blocked this bill by a vote of 49 to 51, with some arguing that it went far beyond simply codifying the right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade. Wade in 1973.
Schumer also brought voting rights legislation to the Senate floor in January 2021, even though it was absolutely clear that it would not have enough Republican support to pass.
Democrats advanced the bill to highlight what they saw as a refusal by Senate Republicans to protect the voting rights, especially those of Black voters, from a barrage of new restrictions at the state level.
But much of the 2022 election year, when Democrats still controlled the House, was devoted to passing important bipartisan bills, including legislation to combat gun violence following the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and to bolster production. domestic semiconductor industry.
Updated at 9:25 a.m. EDT
