It's Thursday, July 7 and Day 145 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell laid down his Supreme Court blockade: No meetings, no hearings, no votes on his replacement. It's also Day 108 since President Obama named Merrick Garland to be Scalia's replacement. What's the Senate doing today instead of considering the Supreme Court nominee?
Attacking states’ rights. Supporters of the GMO labeling bill that cleared a cloture hurdle Wednesday say its about mandatory labeling. What it's really about is blocking states from issuing mandatory labeling laws for products that contain genetically modified ingredients. Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley said, "Here is a so-called labeling bill, but in fact it does the opposite. […] This so-called mandatory labeling bill isn't mandatory, doesn't label, and it excludes most GMO foods." They're continuing work on this bill today.
That seems like a completely typical thing for Mitch McConnell's Senate to be doing when it has just seven working days left before leaving for the national party conventions. That will then stretch into the summer break—yes, this year "August" recess is seven weeks long. But messing around with your food is the top priority. So gun violence, real funding for Zika prevention, spending bills to keep the government open after September—all that just keeps getting pushed back.
Along with filling a Supreme Court vacancy.
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