It looks like the U.S. Senate has finally hit bottom. And if it hasn’t yet officially made landing, that’s only because the Senate requires 60 votes before it can move in any direction.
As you’ve no doubt heard, the Senate failed to repeal the anachronistic — and bigoted — “don’t ask, don’t tell” law Thursday. It failed by a 57-40 vote. That’s 57 votes for repeal and 40 votes against. In the filibuster- happy Senate, circa 2010, that means the bill loses — that it can’t even be debated — because you need 60 votes in the Senate to get anything passed or even moved as far as the Senate floor.
But if you think that’s a problem, stick around. It gets worse — much worse.
Apparently, there were 60 potential votes in favor of repeal and maybe even as many as 62, enough to end debate and enough to get the bill passed. And still the bill went down to defeat.
How? Thought you’d never ask, but I’m going to tell anyway.
It begins with the letter, signed by all 42 Senate Republicans, saying they would filibuster any bill in the lame-duck session until the tax-cut bill was passed (including, of course, the budget-busting tax breaks for the top 2 percent of earners). That was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s letter, which, let’s just say, won’t go down with the back-of-the-envelope Gettysburg Address.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was negotiating with moderate Republican Susan Collins to round up enough Republicans to vote for repeal. The negotiations were routinely described as a roller coaster. I’d say they were more like a 60-car pileup.
And negotiations finally broke down with Collins insisting on a guaranteed four days of debate on the defense-funding bill, for which DADT repeal was an amendment. It wasn’t that the debate request was unreasonable. According to a Greg Sargent report in The Washington Post, Reid was afraid Collins’ Republican pals, such as Jim DeMint, would manage to stall the bill to the point that repeal would never even come to a vote.
Whatever happened, and whomever you want to blame, Reid rushed the bill to a vote, surprising Collins, who voted for it anyway. But other possible votes, such as Republicans Scott Brown and Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Joe Manchin, were cast against.
Whose fault was it? Did Reid mishandle negotiations? Did Collins ask for too much? Did process win over truth and justice again? That’s the miracle of the Senate. Everyone’s at fault, which means no one’s at fault.
After the vote, Mark Udall, who has been an avid supporter of repeal, addressed a room full of empty seats about Senate dysfunction and the need to get this bill passed, even if it means spending Christmas and even New Year’s in Washington.
I got Udall on the phone after his speech to ask him how the bill could lose if 60 senators were willing to vote for it.
“That’s the challenge of the Senate,” Udall said. “You not only have to put together those 60 votes, you have to put them together at the right time when all 60 will vote for a bill. I know it’s counterintuitive and it seems dysfunctional . . .”
I stopped him there. Seems dysfunctional?
“OK, it is dysfunctional. And maybe we need some rule changes as we move forward.”
Lame-duck sessions are never easy — and this one is particularly difficult. Republicans gain control of the House next year. The Senate becomes an even tougher environment for Democrats, who want to get the DREAM Act passed and the START treaty passed. House Democrats are bucking Barack Obama on tax cuts, as is Udall in the Senate. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is playing nonstop in the malls. Nothing is easy right now.
But if our concern — as we heard so often during the health care debate — is the will of the people, DADT repeal should be easy. According to a just-released Gallup poll, 67 percent want DADT repealed. Included in that number are the, uh, president, majorities in both houses of Congress, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the secretary of defense.
Udall is passionate about this issue, which is, of course, a simple justice issue — just as it was when Harry Truman went up against the military to integrate the troops.
“If we don’t get it passed, it leaves us at the mercy of the courts,” Udall says. “I can’t understand for the life of me why Republicans won’t listen to Secretary (Robert) Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs on this. If Democrats acted this way, we’d be skewered for not standing with our men and women.”
And so Udall is sponsoring, along with Collins and Reid and Joe Lieberman, a stand- alone bill — removed from defense spending — to repeal don’t ask, don’t tell. Reid promises to fast-track the bill and to get a vote. It could happen. Heck, if you believe in Christmas miracles, it could even pass. Of course, if you get that Red Ryder BB gun on Christmas morning, there’s just as good a chance you’ll shoot your eye out.
Mike Littwin writes Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-5428 or mlittwin@denverpost.com.
