The Senate’s constitutional quorum is anything over 50%, so merely taking a walk, as Democrat minorities in Wisconsin and Indiana have done in recent years, won’t work.
Besides, the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms has been empowered since 1877 to arrest non-compliant senators, as happened once — to Bob Packwood (R-OR) in 1988.
But anyone who watches C-SPAN knows that most Senate business proceeds before a near-empty chamber.
It may be possible for Republicans to force full Democrat attendance by not showing up, thus forcing Democrats to own the additional disasters they have planned to top Obamacare.
Or Republicans could insist on a quorum call for everything.
A quorum, in that august and honorable body, is “assumed” unless a vote is formally recorded.
Many votes are by voice, and the actual count is irrelevant, made up by canvassing members’ staffs and later duly recording them in the Federal Register.
If Republicans called for a quorum on every vote, and the Republican membership didn’t show up, it would force Democrats to push away from the campaign table most of the time.
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/talking-sense/2013/nov/23/senate-republicans-have-one-last-option/
Besides, the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms has been empowered since 1877 to arrest non-compliant senators, as happened once — to Bob Packwood (R-OR) in 1988.
But anyone who watches C-SPAN knows that most Senate business proceeds before a near-empty chamber.
It may be possible for Republicans to force full Democrat attendance by not showing up, thus forcing Democrats to own the additional disasters they have planned to top Obamacare.
Or Republicans could insist on a quorum call for everything.
A quorum, in that august and honorable body, is “assumed” unless a vote is formally recorded.
Many votes are by voice, and the actual count is irrelevant, made up by canvassing members’ staffs and later duly recording them in the Federal Register.
If Republicans called for a quorum on every vote, and the Republican membership didn’t show up, it would force Democrats to push away from the campaign table most of the time.
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/talking-sense/2013/nov/23/senate-republicans-have-one-last-option/