Schumer shifts Senate into campaign mode with border vote

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has shifted into campaign mode, planning a series of message votes on border security, access to contraception and other hot-button issues.

The shift reflects a widespread recognition in the Senate that there is little chance of passing any substantive legislation between now and Election Day as lawmakers hunker down for tough election campaigns.

Schumer has largely avoided so-called “show votes” on bills that have little chance of passing, wanting to focus for much of this Congress and through 2021 and 2022, the first two years of Democrats’ Senate majority, on bills that could actually become law.

But senators now that Congress has successfully passed $61 billion in Ukraine funds, an annual appropriations bill for fiscal year 2024, and five other bills, need more than just approving judges and executive branch nominees before the election. I don’t expect that to happen. -Relicensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in .

“The election is coming up,” said one Democratic senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity to explain Schumer’s new focus on getting out the vote messaging.

“The question is, what can we do with the rest of this year,” the lawmaker asked, adding that his top priorities — funding Ukraine, funding the government, reauthorizing FISA warrantless surveillance, the FAA has already completed He pointed out that

New polls released last week show President Biden trailing in five battleground states including Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, which also hold Senate races, giving Democrats a strong lead in the Senate. They are increasingly worried about losing their majority.

Many Democratic senators worry that border security is a political burden for Biden, but believe they have an advantage over Republicans on women’s health issues, particularly abortion rights. .

The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday to advance a bipartisan border security agreement that garnered just four votes from Republicans when it was introduced to the floor in February as part of an emergency foreign aid package.

Senate Republicans, including the bill’s co-author, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), said the bill was approved by the National Border Patrol Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Wall Street Journal earlier this year. It said it would vote overwhelmingly to block the bill again on Thursday, even though it had been approved by the editorial board.

Schumer and other Democrats say it will be a good talking point in campaign ads and speeches this fall, when border security faces an onslaught from Republicans.

“Three months ago, Donald Trump told his Republican allies to block the strongest bipartisan border security bill in an entire generation. The good news is, we will try again tomorrow, and this time we hope that Republicans will join us and achieve a different outcome,” Schumer said Wednesday.

Governor Schumer previewed the results earlier this month and sought to draw additional attention to Thursday’s vote by holding a press conference Wednesday afternoon focused on the distribution of fentanyl across the southern border.

But Schumer and other Democrats are well aware that the bill is expected to garner only a few Republican votes, at most.

They know it’s essentially impossible to get Republicans to support a border security bill or a proposal to protect women’s access to reproductive health care, which is why they’re willing to attack their GOP colleagues with political message votes.

Schumer also announced in the full Senate on Wednesday that he plans to vote on a contraceptive rights bill next month. Democrats hope to use the bill to further emphasize rulings by conservative judges that have limited women’s access to health care, including abortion.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, said Democrats intend to emphasize political and policy differences with Republicans on other issues, but others He declined to say what kind of messaging bill would be introduced.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens next, but there will be other opportunities,” she said.

But Republicans have ignored the vote, saying it is unlikely to protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents such as Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). .

“This is really a political stunt, pure and simple, at this point, and most people will see it that way,” said Senate Republican Leader John Thune, SD.

He said the issue is “woven into” voters’ perceptions of how they view Republicans and Democrats, with polls showing voters have a high level of trust in Republicans on border security.

“There is no way [Democrats] “The government can’t run away. It owns it. The incumbents own it,” Thune said.

Lankford, the lead Republican author of the bill, said there was “no question” the bill would improve the situation at the border, but Schumer said he brought it to the floor with a real desire for it to pass. He said that he did not do so.

“This is not about trying to accomplish anything. It’s about getting a message across right now,” he said.

Senate Democrats say they expect Schumer to also vote on other messaging bills on women’s access to health care and reproductive rights later this year.

Schumer urged Republicans to vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act in May 2022 after the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned abortion rights, was leaked to the public. I forced it.

Republicans blocked the bill by a 49-51 vote, with some arguing that the bill does more than simply codify the right to abortion established in the 1973 case Roe v. Wade.

Schumer also introduced a voting rights bill to the Senate floor in January 2021, even though it was clear it would not have enough Republican support to pass.

Democrats pushed the bill to highlight Senate Republicans’ refusal to protect voting rights, particularly those of Black voters, from a barrage of new regulations at the state level.

But for much of the 2022 election year, when Democrats still controlled the House of Representatives, they were able to pass on super-funded legislation, including legislation to address gun violence after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and legislation to boost domestic manufacturing of semiconductors. It was spent passing major partisan legislation.