By Kimberley A. Strassel
McConnell draws the line as Senate Democrats filibuster human-trafficking bill
Politics can be aspirational though mostly its just transactionala straight-up game of giving and getting. The lefts tantrum this week over the stalled nomination of Loretta Lynch is a reminder to Republicans that their best bet for notching any accomplishments during this Congress is to keep it nakedly transactional.
Ms. Lynchs vote to become attorney general is on hold for precisely one reason: Democrats wont play ball on a bill to combat human sex trafficking. This is legislation note that is as bipartisan as it comes. It was jointly authored by Republican John Cornyn and Democrat Amy Klobuchar and co-sponsored by much of the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell followed regular order and Democrats gave unanimous consent to move the bill.
Yet suddenly faced with the real prospect of doing something productiveafter six long years of hiding from votesthe Senate Democratic caucus wigged out. (Debate? Vote? How does one do those things?) Desperate to revert to comfortable dysfunction Democrats suddenly discovered" language in the bill that upholds a prohibition against the federal funding of abortions.
Yes it is language that has been in law for 37 years and yes it was in the bill all along and yes Democrats had voted for it unanimously in committee and yes they had voted for it unanimously last year in an appropriations bill. But Minority Leader Harry Reid needed a reason to balk and the abortion language had the side benefit of allowing Democrats to revive the Republican war on women." They filibustered.
At which point something new happened. Mr. McConnell made clear that so long as he didnt get his trafficking bill Democrats didnt get Ms. Lynch. He would devote the rest of this week to the Cornyn-Klobuchar legislation next week would be about the budget the week after that would be Easter recess and so on. Lets hope Ms. Lynch enjoys Sudoku. No give no get.
Democrats are furious though watching them try to shame Mr. McConnell into moving up a vote on the first black woman nominee for AG is amusing. Someone had the bad idea to roll out Sen. Dick Durbin (D. Ill.) who compared Ms. Lynch to Rosa Parks railing that Republicans were making her sit in the back of the bus."
This would be the same Dick Durbin who filibustered Janice Rogers Brown (the first black woman nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals) and who kicked off the bus Miguel Estrada (the first Hispanic nominee to that court)filibustering him seven times over 28 months until he withdrew his nomination. Progress thy name is not Dick Durbin.
Similarly laughable are Democratic claims that Ms. Lynch has now waited longer than any AG nominee since Ed Meese in 1985. That number only works if it includes all the time last year that Mr. Reid who was still running the Senate (remember that?) didnt act on her nomination. He was too busy packing the courts with Obama judicial nominees. And it ignores that Mr. Reid spent weeks locking down the Senate over Homeland Security funding and now over human trafficking.
Mr. McConnell shouldnt budge. Because what is notable is how much Democrats want Ms. Lynch confirmed. They want something. In such scenarios the Republican job is to transact to make clear what the left must give in return. This is the model the GOP used in the omnibus last year in which it ceded a few Democratic demands and in return landed some key policy victories on issues like trucking regulations and endangered-species listings.
Its a vast improvement over what it generally does. The party keeps trying to unilaterally take things away from the presidenthis health-care bill his immigration executive order. Yet he has the power to say no and Republicans have little recourse. (Give us what we want or we will shoot ourselves with a shutdown!)
Theyve mainly highlighted their own divisions making it even harder to press Democrats into a deal. And when they do actually transact they dont drive a hard bargain. House Speaker John Boehner just cut a deal with Rep. Nancy Pelosi for a doc fix." Shes getting a huge priorityan extension of Schip the child health-insurance program. Why arent Republicans getting a repeal of ObamaCares medical-device tax?
Despite the appearance that Mr. Obama has no interest in working with Republicans there are things he and his party want. They want their nominees. They want more domestic spending. They want approval for certain pet projects. They want cover on some issues. They want to avoid others. Many congressional Democrats simply want a chance to vote on legislation so that they have something to show voters in the next election.
Democrats are still acting as if they own Congress and betting bluster will force the GOP to back down. Republicans can hurry along the lefts new acceptance of minority status by spelling out very clearly the terms of trade. Then maybe just maybe they can transact a few victories.
