Even if Kamala Harris wins the presidency, there is a distinct possibility that the Senate might have a Republican majority of 51-49. This would be the first time a newly elected Democratic president faced a Republican Senate since Grover Cleveland was elected in 1884 and that was a very different time where the party labels signified different things from what they do now and members were not so rigid in their party allegiances.
So what challenges would Harris face in that eventuality?
Harris’ first task will be getting the Cabinet confirmed. This could require at least one Republican vote for each nominee, and that Republican might just ask for something in return. The most likely Republican crossover is Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Unfortunately for Harris, her state’s biggest industry is oil and she might demand that Harris cut out all this talk of getting rid of fossil fuels as the price for her votes. Another possibility is Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). Her state’s biggest industries are fishing, logging, and farming. That could prove easier, especially since she is up in 2026 and Murkowski is not. The Green New Deal does not threaten the profits of the lobster industry.
Since cabinet appointments never expire, Harris could keep any current secretaries indefinitely, and possibly move them to new posts. She could also appoint acting secretaries for a limited amount of time. A real Hail Mary play would be for Biden to appoint Harris’ choices in December and have the current Senate ram them through in a lame duck session, but that would really poison the well.
As I have said before, close elections tend to be a source of education about political esoterica and this is yet another one. I had always assumed that all outgoing cabinet officials and other political appointees automatically vacated their jobs as soon as a new president is inaugurated, allowing that person to start with a clean slate. But apparently not. It kind of makes sense to have them continue for at least some time, since the confirmation process for new appointees is tedious and time consuming and you do need at least some people to stay on until the new people are sworn in in order to provide stability and continuity. But the idea that cabinet appointments need never expire was new to me.
One hopes that Harris does not have to use such maneuvers in order for her to have a cabinet at all.
One big difference would be that if Harris win, creepy Donald Trump would not be as significant a force within the GOP as he is now, where he can bend the party leaders to his will because of the threat that he might become president and seek revenge on them. He will still try to get them to do his bidding and thwart Harris at every turn but it will not be the same. Without creepy Trump, the MAGA movement will be rudderless and its power and shelf life may be limited.
“A real Hail Mary play would be for Biden to appoint Harris’ choices in December and have the current Senate ram them through in a lame duck session, but that would really poison the well.”
exactly what the republicans would do.
Biden should do it.
if he doesn’t, the repubs will draw out appointments forever, until they get their way. like with the supreme court nominations and confirmations.
I don’t see much of a problem. PAB barely had any of his nominees confirmed, and had “acting” heads in everything. This was also partly necessary because of the high turnover in his cabinet.
Same story from last week: https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/377729/kamala-harris-supreme-court-electoral-college-senate-constitution
(This is not an accusation, BTW. Great minds and all that is probably more applicable)
I am hoping that, if Harria and a republican senate are elected, the senate majority leader will even convene a meeting (presumably on Jan. 6 or thereabouts) to confirm the electoral college results. (My understanding is that it is the newly-elected congress that meets to do these votes.)
I hope that we ever even get to the point where nominees can be confirmed.
After all, why shouldn’t the majority leader refuse to perform their constitutional duty? McConnell didn’t do his, in refusing to hear Obama’s nomination to SCOTUS, and the word was that, had Clinton been elected, McConnell would refuse a hearing to her every nominee, even if that was for eight straight years.
Can SCOTUS make the majority leader and the speaker convene meetings, let alone vote during them?
“A real Hail Mary play would be for Biden to appoint Harris’ choices in December and have the current Senate ram them through in a lame duck session, but that would really poison the well.”
The “well” is already a Superfund site. Time to do what needs done, by any means available.
And when the orange excrescence is gone, there will still be no daylight between the Republican party and the Nazi party.
*gasp*
Well we mustn’t do that -- they might become obstructive!!!111!!
Honestly, it is baffling/amazing/dismaying to see people clinging to the idea that playing nice with Republicans is still a good idea.
That’s quite the simplistic view.
cf. game theory; specifically, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation#Background%3A_Axelrod%27s_tournaments
The MAGA Republicans are not a good fit for game theory as it assumes the players are rational beings who plan ahead.
It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you and it’s not “poisoning the well” if this thing they are calling a ‘well’ is already chock full of human shit and yellow matter dogvomit. Bony Carrot is a supreme court justice. The president is now a king. Voters are being struck off of registers. That’s *poison* if anything ever was.
There is no by-line on the electoral-vote site for that article. This means we don’t know the author. The author is an idiot.