This diary is only marginally about the Terry Schiavo case, which I'm actually quite tired of reading about for many of the reasons Kos has blogged about today.
The important issue here is the blatant violation of our Constitution and political process that happened in the Senate under the radar. The Washington Post has the story here.
The Senate, operating under unanimous-consent rules, passed the legislation yesterday afternoon with no debate and with only three members present. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a renowned heart surgeon, said Congress cannot force a U.S. judge to order that Schiavo's feeding tube be reinserted while the new federal case goes forward. However, he said, "I would expect that a federal judge would grant a stay [of the state court's order removing the tube] under these circumstances, because Terri would need to live in order for the court to consider the case."
More below the fold...
Think about that, the senate was called to order with only
three senators present and they passed legislation which matched the House's version by a voice vote. Goodbye Constitution.
Article I, Section 5, Clause 1 specifically states:
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Now according to Thomas it appears there is a little loophole to that:
The absence of a quorum occurs when it is officially demonstrated that the number of Members required to conduct business is not present on the House or Senate floor. If a quorum call or roll-call vote demonstrates that a quorum is not present, no further debate or other business may be transacted, except a motion to adjourn or a motion to request or require the attendance of absent Members. In the House, the chair can count the Members who are on the floor to determine if a quorum is present. The presiding officer in the Senate usually does not have this authority.
In the Senate, a quorum call is called off by unanimous consent before all Senators' names have been called. The absence of quorum has not been demonstrated, and the Senate may resume its business.
So of course these senators called off the "quorum call" by unanimous consent, there were only three of them meeting on a Sunday afternoon!
The implications of this are huge and far reaching and I think they also transcend political lines. Basically we could wake up in the morning only to find that good ol' Bill Frist got together with a few of his buddies at 2 am in the morning to pass legislation that by the way matches House legislation and the President intends to sign.
You can easily replace Bill Frist with Sen Reid and you have cause for everyone to be alarmed about this little loophole.
Is this the next evolution of the Republican power grab, passing legislation in secret in the dead of night?
