Dem
47
GOP
53
There are two new developments concerning the new Senate, in which the Republicans will probably have 53 seats (54 if Kari Lake pulls an upset victory, though her odds are not good, and some media outlets are already projecting that she lost). First, the second most hated person in the Senate, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), is running for majority leader. It's tough to run for leader when the best thing most of the people who can vote for you say is: "He's not as bad as Ted Cruz." Still, yesterday he got some good news.
First, the Almighty Tucker Carlson (R-Fox)—oh wait, (R-?)—has endorsed Scott. He said: "Rick Scott of Florida is the only candidate who agrees with Donald Trump. Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott."
Among actual Republican senators, only Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) support Scott. To win, a candidate needs 27 votes, so only 23 more to go. However, Scott has a serious problem. The election is by secret ballot, so cowardly senators, of which there are many, can proclaim allegiance to Scott but then vote for one of the Johns, Thune (R-SD) or Cornyn (R-TX). If Trump tries to push the senators around, it could backfire. Senators don't like being pushed around, and with a secret ballot, no one can tell how they voted. Of course, if Scott gets only five votes, it will be obvious.
Scott thinks his background as a businessman who made deals will help him. He was once CEO of one of the nation's largest for-profit hospital chains. He was ousted by the board after the company was convicted of 14 felonies and fined $1.7 billion, then the largest fine for Medicare fraud in the country. Despite his background in health care, when he was running for president a few years ago, one of his platform planks was to end Medicare unless Congress voted to renew it every 5 years. That didn't go over well and partly explains why his fellow Republican senators are not all buddy-buddy with him. But his abrasive personality also plays a role.
The new Republican senators from Utah, Montana, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia will be new to town and probably don't know any of the leadership candidates. Their votes might be up for grabs. Pigs can't fly, but pork can.
The other news involves recess appointments, which have basically gone the way of the dodo in the last 15 years. Barack Obama made aggressive use of the technique, got sued by Senate Republicans, and lost a unanimous Supreme Court decision. This decision has allowed both chambers of Congress to hold pro forma sessions every 3 days, even when most members are not in Washington. Consequently, Congress is never officially "in recess."
Donald Trump would like to bring recess appointments back, presumably so he can stack his Cabinet and the executive agencies with folks too radioactive to be approved the normal way. The President-elect is trying to get the three leading candidates for Senate Majority Leader to commit to giving him what he wants. On his boutique social media site, yesterday, Trump truthed: "Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner."
Immediately thereafter, Scott tweeted: "100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible." Elon Musk chimed in: "Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader." Cornyn and Thune, for their parts, have said they would make sure to process appointments quickly, while not committing to giving Trump a blank check to do what he wants.
If Trump manages to effectively bypass the specific constitutional requirement that the Senate vote to confirm all high-level appointments, Trump will have started down the road to dictatorship. The founders understood how kings worked and very specifically described Congress in Article I of the Constitution, because they expected Congress to be the most important of the three branches. If Trump can effectively sideline the Senate, he is halfway there. (V)