Congress - Partisanship

Question 1

Is partisanship still strong with Supreme Court nominations? Give an example

Answer 1

Partisanship is increasingly strong/dramatically intensified in recent years. As seen with appointment of Amy Coney Barrett’s vote in the Senate – no Democrats supported her nomination.

Question 2

Who led a filibuster on guns (what did it do, who did it and how long was it)?
Did it increase partisanship?

Answer 2

Chris Murphy led a 15-hour filibuster to force a vote on a) the expansion of federal background checks on gun sales and b) a ban of sales of guns to those on the US governments terrorist watch list. Both proposals failed due to intense partisanship (only one Republican voted for both measures)

Question 3

When does federal shutdown occur?

What was the longest shutdown and when did it occur?

Answer 3

Federal shutdown occurs when parties and houses cannot agree with the executive’s proposals for the US budget. Longest shutdown in US History in January 2019 (after two other shutdowns under Trump – Congress refused to allow funds if Trump insisted on building the wall!)

Question 4

What does the Hastert Rule Bill do?

Answer 4

Prevents bills that the minority party in the Senate would support from coming to a floor vote. This prevents bipartisanship.

Question 5

Have all modern day examples of the Senates rejection of the presidential nomination become a normality? If so why so?

Answer 5

All modern-day examples of the Senate’s rejection of presidential nominations has come when the Senate and the White House are in periods of divided government (Robert Bork rejected by Democrat Senate but nominated by Reagan for the Supreme Court or Bush, Snr was Republican and Senate Democrat in 1989 when they rejected John Tower as secretary of defence).

The same works with foreign treaties – Nuclear Test Ban Treaty rejected by a Republican Senate in 1999 (Clinton – Democrat)

Question 6

Has partisanship grown since the 1980’s? Whether yes or no give examples

Answer 6

Since the 1980s partisanship has grown considerably.

Recent demonstrations:
. Congress’ refusal to vote for Trump’s tax

. Jobs reform or Biden’s Voting Rights reforms (For the People Bill)