In response to the Orlando terrorist attack, Senate Democratic leaders say they plan to try to force votes on an array of gun control measures in the weeks ahead and have threatened to block critical spending measures if the GOP-led Senate prevents them from bringing up their legislation.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday pledged to try to force a vote as soon as this week on a measure authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would block those on the terror watch list or in some cases, under federal investigation for terrorism, from purchasing guns and explosives.
Democrats say they will demand votes on other measures, including legislation to expand background checks, impose stronger penalties for “straw purchases” and make firearms trafficking a federal crime.
So far Democrats do not plan to try to bring up a bill banning many types of assault-style weapons.
“We want to have an up or down vote on the basics,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, R-Ill., told the Washington Examiner. “Feinstein’s bill is the right starting point because of Orlando, but for many of us there are still so may gaps in coverage.”
The move threatens to prevent the Senate from passing spending legislation. Spending bills generally require a 60-vote approval threshold and Republicans control only 54 votes.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said he believed Democrats are playing politics by bringing up the Feinstein measure but said he is willing to talk about compromise.
“We’re open,” McConnell said. “Nobody wants terrorists to have firearms. We’re open to serious suggestions from the experts as to what we might be able to do to be helpful.”
Democrats say they will try to attach the Feinstein legislation to the Commerce, Science and Justice appropriations bill now on the Senate floor. A similar measure failed in the Senate in December, blocked by Republicans and one Democrat.
Republicans argued Tuesday that Democrats in December rejected a GOP-authored measure that would have helped close the gun loophole for terror suspects.
The provision, sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was offered as an alternative to the Feinstein legislation. It would have created a 72-hour delay and an expedited court review for anyone on the terror watch list who tries to purchase a gun. Democrats blocked the GOP measure, arguing it would only delay terror suspects from purchasing guns.
Both Democrats and Republicans said they were willing to discuss a possible compromise but no cross-party talks are happening so far.
“Maybe we can find some middle ground,” Durbin told the Examiner. “I hope so.”
Democrats also plan to demand a $100 million increase in funding for the FBI to match President Obama’s fiscal 2017 spending request.
The FBI had interviewed the Orlando shooter twice but then removed him from the terror watch list after determining they had no reason to keep him on it.
“They complain about the FBI, the Republicans say they’re not doing enough,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. “Well, because they always short-change them on the resources they have.”
