Angry Republicans, determined to block a last-minute barrage of Democratic legislation, have slowed the Senate chamber to a crawl and scored a major victory Thursday, blocking a massive federal spending bill.
Late Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pulled a $1.1 trillion bill that would have funded government through 2011. Republicans said they were opposed to the measure because it was laden with earmarks and wasteful spending, and at least one Democrat, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who is up for re-election in 2012, pledged to oppose it.
The Senate was expected to begin debate on the plan late Thursday, but Reid withdrew it, apparently lacking the votes needed to pass it.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had threatened to block the bill.
“Now, there’s only one reason why cloture is not being filed, and the majority leader, to his credit, already said it — he doesn’t have the votes.” McConnell said. “And the reason he doesn’t have the votes is because members on this side of the aisle increasingly felt concerned about the way we do business.”
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., had planned to stall it at least temporarily by invoking the rarely used requirement that the nearly 2,000-page bill be read by the clerks on the Senate floor. Such a move would take a day or two, DeMint said.
Democrats, he added, were not given adequate time for the public and lawmakers to read the bill.
“Americans loudly demanded an end to the runaway spending, but Democrats are intent on raiding every taxpayer dollar that they can grab from the Treasury on their way out of power,” DeMint said.
Congress never passed the spending bills needed to fund the federal government beyond Sept. 30, so it has been temporarily funding it at 2010 levels under a stopgap measure that expires on Saturday.
McConnell introduced a one-page bill Thursday to extend that funding through Feb. 18, by which time Republicans will be running the House and have six additional seats in the Senate. Reid will allow this plan to go forward.
“Once the new Congress is sworn in, we’ll have a chance to pass a less expensive bill free of wasteful spending,” McConnell said. “Until then, we should take a step back and respect the clear will of the voters. Americans don’t want massive, trillion-dollar bills rushed through Congress on our way out the door. They want us to be careful and responsible with their money.”
The Senate spent the day debating the new START nuclear arms treaty with Russia, and will extend that debate for at least another day next week just to delay the ratification President Obama had demanded. Republicans also plan to try to introduce dozens of time-consuming amendments to the treaty.
Reid has threatened to keep the Senate in session up until the 112th Congress convenes on Jan. 5.
