Today in Congress: farm bill amendments drag on in the Senate

Recapping yesterday's action:

The Senate was the only house in session yesterday, and its activity can be summed up by saying that it voted twice to table the only two amendments to the farm bill it considered.

That's the bottom line of it, but the interesting part is how the votes came about, and why. Recall that in yesterday's post, I mentioned that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had "filled the amendment tree" in an effort to block Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) from offering his non-germane amendment cutting off foreign aid to Pakistan. With the ability to offer amendments effectively blocked, but 100+ amendments having been proposed, Reid began slowly opening the bottleneck by selecting a few amendments at a time to offer as second-degree amendments to his own amendment that was strategically blocking the path to the floor. That's something he can do on a larger or smaller scale, as he chooses. And right now, it makes sense to let amendments through only in drips and drabs, as an incentive to others to reach a broader deal covering more amendments and moving at a faster pace.

Reid started with two amendments that were narrow in scope, but which generated wide interest among Senators'one by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) to phase out the sugar subsidy program, and another by Rand Paul to replace the food stamps program (now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) with state block grants'both of which he opposed. Then, he moved to table each amendment, effectively killing them. In so doing, he technically gave each amendment a vote, which is supposed to satisfy the proponents, even while they see their amendment buried. That begins to relieve some of the pressure from other Senators to get votes for their amendments, albeit very slowly, while continuing to hold out reason for them to reach wider agreements that will get their amendments the same or similar opportunities.

Looking ahead to today:

So that's where things stand now for the Senate, with over a hundred other amendments proposed, two dispensed with, the second degree amendment pipeline bottled up, and Democrats in talks with Republicans about how many more and which ones ought to be let through, and Reid all the while calculating how many and which ones will have to get votes before 60 Senators will be satisfied enough to vote yes on cloture on the bill and finish things up.

That means today is about keeping the wheels turning on the floor while the dealing is done in private. Nobody knows how many votes there will be, or on which amendments. Senators will just be standing by on the assumption that there's going to be something to vote on, and waiting for those details to come out.

Today's floor and committee schedules appear below the fold.