Suggested text: The National Emergencies Act expressly provides a procedure for Congress to terminate a state of emergency by passing a resolution. Congress has never used this procedure. But they should this time.
This is the mechanism that Rep. Castro and his colleagues used by passing their resolution. You can use this link at the top of this resource to see if your MoC voted for the resolution. If so, thank them! If not, call and register your disappointment and hold them accountable.
Next, the resolution heads to the Senate. This is a “privileged resolution,” which means that Mitch McConnell can not block it from moving on the Senate floor. He could still make the process complicated, however. Here’s generally how it works:
- Now that the House has passed the resolution, it kicks to the Senate where it gets referred to the appropriate committee.
- Then, the committee has 15 calendar days (at a maximum) to do any debate or work on the resolution. Note: they don’t HAVE to do anything or use their 15 days. But, this is the maximum amount of time that the committee can take.
- After the committee’s time is finished, the Senate MUST vote on the resolution within three days after that.
- This is where things could get complicated: McConnell could throw a procedural roadblock, for example by requiring senators to vote on a “motion to table” (i.e., take the resolution off the floor) before moving forward on the resolution itself.
The key point here: senators should vote in support of moving the resolution forward, no matter what form the vote takes. And they should keep voting to move the resolution forward until it passes. Because, one way or the other, they are going to have to take a vote.
Suggested text: The National Emergencies Act expressly provides a procedure for Congress to terminate a state of emergency by passing a resolution. Congress has never used this procedure. But they should this time.
ReplyDeleteThis is the mechanism that Rep. Castro and his colleagues used by passing their resolution. You can use this link at the top of this resource to see if your MoC voted for the resolution. If so, thank them! If not, call and register your disappointment and hold them accountable.
Next, the resolution heads to the Senate. This is a “privileged resolution,” which means that Mitch McConnell can not block it from moving on the Senate floor. He could still make the process complicated, however. Here’s generally how it works:
- Now that the House has passed the resolution, it kicks to the Senate where it gets referred to the appropriate committee.
- Then, the committee has 15 calendar days (at a maximum) to do any debate or work on the resolution. Note: they don’t HAVE to do anything or use their 15 days. But, this is the maximum amount of time that the committee can take.
- After the committee’s time is finished, the Senate MUST vote on the resolution within three days after that.
- This is where things could get complicated: McConnell could throw a procedural roadblock, for example by requiring senators to vote on a “motion to table” (i.e., take the resolution off the floor) before moving forward on the resolution itself.
The key point here: senators should vote in support of moving the resolution forward, no matter what form the vote takes. And they should keep voting to move the resolution forward until it passes. Because, one way or the other, they are going to have to take a vote.
reality