Sunday, July 18, 2021

You And What Other 49 Senators, Brave, Brave Sir Robin?

One little problem there, Senator:

A straightforward reading of the Constitution’s quorum requirement would seem to require a simple majority of Senators, or a minimum of 51 if there are no vacancies in the body, to be present on the floor whenever the Senate conducts business. As any observer of the Senate soon notices, typically only a handful of Senators are present during floor debates. It is unusual for as many as 51 Senators to be present on the floor at the same time unless a rollcall vote is in progress.

And besides:

The Senate operates on the presumption that a quorum is present at all times, under all circumstances, unless the question to the contrary is raised, or the absence of a quorum is officially shown, or until a point of no quorum is made even though a voice vote is taken and announced in the meantime.3 

So you'd need a Republican senator present to make the quorum call and block the vote.  But with at least one GOP Senator present, assuming it's a rollcall vote and all 50 Democratic Senators are present, the vote is not blocked, and 2/3rds of those present can block any filibuster.  So, sure, Sen. Graham, go home for awhile.

Besides, if memory serves this is the third time in my lifetime that Texas Democrats have walked out to prevent a quorum.

Apparently they're much better at it.

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