Down a Vote
You well know the dynamic in the U.S. Senate…50 Republicans, 50 Democrats, and a tie is broken according to the Constitution by the vice president acting in her capacity as President of the Senate.
Last month, the Senate adjourned but Republicans were afraid that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would suddenly call everyone back in the hopes that some Republicans could not make it due to weather and the like. That’s how tricky the math is these days.
Now a new problem for Democrats, and it’s an unfortunate one…first-term Sen. Ben Ray Lujan from New Mexico has suffered a stroke. Democrats are publicly saying it’s not a major event and he’ll be back soon…but it points out how the illness of one member–due to COVID, a stroke, etc.–can literally change the course of U.S. public policy.
Presume that there is a topic…a new member for the FCC, ultimately a Supreme Court justice…for which the remaining 49 Democrats all agree. That’s still only 49. Nothing can pass without a Republican getting on board.
And Heaven forbid that the Senator does not adequately recover from the stroke and has to step down…sure, the Governor of New Mexico is a Democrat and will appoint another one as a replacement, but there could actually be a gap between a resignation and a new senator being sworn in…during which time the GOP has a 50-49 advantage and therefore control.
We’ve known all this, of course; any senator who cannot serve on either side shifts the power balance. This very real example shows us just how tenuous the balance of power is.
