Dem
47
GOP
53
That's five s-words in a row in that headline, which is obviously doable. It would also be pretty doable with T, or R, or B, we'd say. Much, much harder with U or Q or Z.
The House is not even in session right now, of course, but the Senate is getting a little work done, in between marathon sessions of not doing anything to end the shutdown. Yesterday, the Democrats brought a privileged motion to revoke Donald Trump's authority to impose tariffs on Brazil, which he did under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, legislation that specifically gives Congress the power to say "no more emergency, so no more tariffs." And the measure passed 52-48, with co-sponsor Rand Paul (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) joining the 47 Democrats and independents in voting in favor.
To address some questions we are sure readers have, privileged motions are allowed under certain, fairly narrow circumstances. One of those is urgent/time-sensitive matters, and the Senate Parliamentarian has to agree that the matter is urgent/time-sensitive, as opposed to just an attempt to do an end-run around normal operating procedures (like passing a budget). A privileged motion must be placed at the top of the Senate's to-do list and, critically, it's (usually) not subject to debate. Since the filibuster is, ultimately, "endless debate," that means privileged motions are not filibusterable. That's why the bill could pass with fewer than 60 votes.
It is improbable that Mike Johnson will bring the bill up for a vote in the House (though, thanks to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, we all know how discharge petitions work, so maybe four rogue Republicans might decide to "change" Johnson's mind). If it does somehow pass the House, Trump will immediately veto it. Still, it's a pretty big act of defiance, and an early sign that if Trump doesn't TACO on his various trade wars, Congress might just step up and do so for him, since they know full well what the impacts of a hyper-protectionist (and simultaneously arbitrary and unpredictable) trade policy will be. (Z)