On Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should do anything he needs to stand up to the Democrats’ “radical agenda,” including denying the Senate a quorum.
“To borrow a phrase from Senator Schumer, when it comes to standing up to the most radical agenda in U.S. Senate history—All options are on the table for Republicans,” Graham posted on Twitter. “Republican needs to make it clear that if there is an effort to change the filibuster … we, as Republicans, will use all the tools in the toolbox to stop the power grab—including the denial of a quorum.”
Standing Rules of the United States Senate include the quorum, which refers to the number of senators that must be present for the Senate to do business. The Constitution requires a majority of senators, which would be 51 senators, for a quorum.
Wikipedia explains a quorum like this: The Constitution provides that a majority of the Senate constitutes a quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the Senate, a quorum is always assumed to be present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. Any senator may request a quorum call by “suggesting the absence of a quorum”; a clerk then calls the roll of the Senate and notes which members are present. In practice, senators almost always request quorum calls not to establish the presence of a quorum, but to temporarily delay proceedings without having to adjourn the session. Such a delay may serve one of many purposes; often, it allows Senate leaders to negotiate compromises off the floor or to allow senators time to come to the Senate floor to make speeches without having to constantly be present in the chamber while waiting for the opportunity. Once the need for a delay has ended, any senator may request unanimous consent to rescind the quorum call.
To borrow a phrase from Senator Schumer, when it comes to standing up to the most radical agenda in US Senate history – All options are on the table for Republicans.https://t.co/lndiOEGhwx
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 22, 2021
Graham on H.R. 1: Biggest Power Grab in Modern American History
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today spoke at a press conference with South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster to discuss the negative impact H.R. 1, the For the People Act, would have on South Carolina elections.
The legislation has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives and could soon be debated in the U.S. Senate. The far-reaching legislation would erode a South Carolina law requiring a photo ID to vote. It also calls for public funding for political campaigns for office.
- GRAHAM: “H.R. 1 is an attempt by the radical left to take over every election system in the country. H.R. 1 would be the federalization of elections for Congress. It would be in violation of the Constitution, in my view. The contents of this bill should scare everybody in South Carolina and throughout the nation who believe in robust voting but integrity at the ballot box.”
- McMASTER: “This bill, H.R. 1, threatens the constitutional sovereignty of the state of South Carolina. Those are not just words – that’s very important. This country, our state, is built on the sovereignty of the states. This bill takes that away.”
- GRAHAM: “[H.R.1] would take away from the states the ability to redistrict for congressional purposes. What does that mean to South Carolina? That’s a disaster for us. We have seven members of Congress now because our population in South Carolina is growing. Every few years, you redistrict the House of Representatives based on population growth, or people moving out of the deep blue liberal states because of the taxes and crime. They’re coming to Texas and South Carolina and Florida, and under the laws of the land today, you leave it up to the states, with court oversight, to draw the new congressional districts. This bill would eliminate that. They would create a federal panel to take away from South Carolina the ability to draw congressional lines. That’s a tremendous infringement on the ability of a state to run its election as envisioned by the Constitution.”
- McMASTER: “There’s no way to exaggerate the danger and the harm that these provisions if passed, will do to our state and our country. It is hard to believe. They will eliminate a requirement, any kind of ID requirement, other than saying that you are who you say you are, and you can register to vote on the same day as the election. It requires the states to have early voting.”
- GRAHAM: “[H.R. 1] will destroy ballot integrity. This will institutionalize techniques used by the left to expand the vote in a fashion where there will be no integrity in the vote. This is the biggest power grab in modern American history being pushed by the most radical people in modern American history to change the way we vote to destroy the integrity of the ballot box, and we will not stand for it in South Carolina.”
- GRAHAM: “Voting is a sacred right, but it is also a sacred process. I’d rather leave it up to the state of South Carolina. Why should [Congress] be mandating that? I mean, if it’s working in a state and they like it, great…for me, I’d like people to get registered, make it easy to be registered, but be on the books. When you show up, they’ll see your name, you show an ID, and you vote.”
