Something very unusual happened in the U.S. Senate today: a vote scheduled by the majority leader failed. The legislation would have repealed an Obama-era rule designed to prevent methane emissions from leaking out of drilling operations on public lands. Brought up under the Congressional Review Act, the resolution only needed 50 votes to pass the Senate, after already passing the House along party lines. But it failed 49-51.
Senate leaders like Mitch McConnell don’t typically advance votes on legislation unless they know it will pass. The Senate floor is almost never the scene for unexpected activity. So what happened?
It may have been Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey.
Three Republicans voted against repealing the methane rule, which was backed by the president. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, had already announced their intention to vote no before the vote. But John McCain, R-Ariz., “unexpectedly” joined them.
Methane leaks on public lands are a significant problem in the Western “four-corner” states of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, an area which is a known “hot spot” for methane emissions. McCain has shown mild support for environmental action in the past. And his friend Lindsey Graham voted no, and perhaps swayed him.
But here’s what McCain was doing right before the vote: On CNN, he condemned the Comey firing, showing an outsized regard for the former FBI director. “When you fire probably, arguably, the most respected person in America, you’d better have a very good explanation, and so far I haven’t seen that,” McCain said. He added that the firing would cause legislative problems. “We have a lot of issues and challenges and this just diverts a lot of that attention.”
McCain’s conduct during the Senate vote also raises red flags. In the C-SPAN video of the vote, McCain can be seen in heated discussion with John Cornyn, R-Texas, the number two man in the Senate leadership, along with John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and an unidentified senator with his back to the camera. After yelling at them for close to a minute, McCain goes over to the Senate clerks and gives a thumbs down to record his vote. He then storms out of the chamber, as Cornyn raises his arms in mild protest.
McCain has a reputation for being a little, shall we say, vindictive. It’s not out of the question at all that he would torpedo this vote, regardless of his ideological preferences, because of a fit of pique about the FBI director he admires getting unceremoniously dumped.
There’s a second possibility here: McConnell may have been counting on the votes of two moderate Democrats from energy production states: Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. They had reportedly considered repealing the methane rule. But in the end, they voted no.
Before the vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held an unusual all-caucus meeting in the morning to discuss their options in the wake of the Comey firing. Afterward, they did announce a slowdown of Senate business, denying unanimous consent for the holding of committee hearings this afternoon. Could Manchin and Heitkamp been encouraged to vote no in a show of unity against Trump and his agenda?
Whatever the reason, the vote against the methane repeal is quite a blow, because Congress faces a Thursday deadline to complete any resolutions under the Congressional Review Act. That means that the methane rule is likely safe from repeal through the congressional process, potentially preventing 180,000 tons of methane per year from rising into the atmosphere.
The episode shows how a bombshell event like the Comey firing can deeply disrupt the legislative agenda. If a methane rule cannot be repealed by the Republican majority, coming up with a version of repealing and replacing Obamacare could prove even tougher.
It’s unclear how long Democrats will keep up the grinding of Senate business to a halt. Virtually the entire caucus has called for a special prosecutor to examine the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and the Russian role in meddling with the 2016 presidential election. McCain, for his part, has called for a select committee of Congress to investigate Russian interference.
McLame needs to retire already. Senile old fool and a fake war hero.
Cornyn is such a creep. I cannot stand that goof.
“the most respected man in America”?, that goober is delusional, any respect for Comey went out the window when he gave Hillary a pass.
He didn’t give Hillary a pass. He stated the facts that contrary to Republican hysteria, Hillary didn’t commit any wrongdoing. You and your ilk are just going to have to eventually accept that fact and move on. There is no world of alternate facts, snowflake!
“You and your ilk are just going to have to eventually accept that fact and move on”
LULZ. Perhaps you could tell that to HRC and her cohorts regarding the election.
> The episode shows how a bombshell event like the Comey firing can deeply disrupt the legislative agenda.
the episode shows nothing. nothing was proven. it’s all speculation
I am relieved that they got to “no,” ugly or fugly.
The Democrats and Republicans are like a dysfunctional marriage. If those in such marriage care for each other and want to find real lasting solutions to their problems, they would seek the advice of a marriage counselor who has better eyes to see the underlying cause of their distress. And so, what do we have that would tell both Republicans and Democrats, respectively, the many ways they make an utter mess of things with no or little regard to the earth and the well being of humanity? The Intercept and other critical thinking sites do act like counselors with their often keen perception of political dysfunction. And while there is, understandably, much talk ABOUT such dysfunction, there is little by way of how to get out of it. As perceptive as we may be in correctly diagnosing the underlying cause of our many problems, why haven’t we move forward on them? A loaded question, no doubt, but how are we going to get out of our impasse? Among the few whose perception of things is exceptional and offers solutions, Riane Eisler comes to mind. http://rianeeisler.com/
it would be a good thing for The Intercept to have a chat with her, preferably, a 3 part series on what she has discovered that actually works. She’s not getting any younger and it would be a great loss if no one hear her out.
no. no, that is not what Democrats and Republicans are “like” at all. they’re a sociopathic, intrinsically corrupt and anti-democratic ruling class engaged in an internecine power struggle and we’re largely just fine with being fed on by such parasites as long as we can identify with one team or the other.
McCain finally does something right but for all the wrong reasons. Saying Comey is the “most respected man in America” shows us how much McCain has lost his cookies. A war failure to a senile old man.
McCain is a clown. Besides his choice of Alaska Psycho to be his VP there is this little gem that I return to every so often.
McCain rushes to defend Kissinger from those awful protesters</a
God that was sickening. Again. Thanks for the reminder of why I have such a low opinion of that scumbag. I’m talking about McCain not Kissinger. I have even less of an opinion of that war criminal.
Right? Ol’ Hank is directly responsible for the deaths of untold thousands (millions?) and McCain shits his pants over some protesters? Poor Henry, leave him alone!
Clinton heaping praise on that scumbag (Kissinger) was just a topper in the last election.
“…moderate Democrats from energy production states: Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.”
There’s nothing moderate about these people. They are right wing ideologues. Even our terminology is controlled by undemocratic propagandists.
“Moderate” is a term used in ratio. So the fact that they are right wing ideologues doesn’t mean they are not moderate. It simply means established politics are dominated by the right wing.
Notwithstanding the above both of them have to be defeated in primaries next year.
This may be the strangest article I’ve ever read on TI – critiquing McCain for doing the right thing. Talking about mindlessly vindictive !
It merely informs baffled readers *why* McCain did the right thing for once. Point being, he didn’t vote against the bill because it was the right thing to do, but rather out of a characteristic fit of spite.
He *might* have voted against the bill out of spite. And he might not have. The article suggests other reasons he might have voted against it, eg voting along with his pal Lindsey Graham, as he usually does. This is pure Kremlinology trying to theorize about his motives with high level analysis such as “McCain has a reputation for being a little, shall we say, vindictive.” Sheesh.
Yep, anybody who’s paid even cursory attention to McCain knows he’s one of the most thin-skinned, petty, vindictive individuals in American public life. Hardly a controversial view. I’d just say, choose your battles.
The bots censored me on my McCain comment. Shame on The Intercept which I used to respect. Does anyone believe our war hero was not napalming villages in “Nam?
oh good.
Fire on the Mountain, run, boys, run / The Devil´s in the house of the rising sun / Chicken in the bread pan a picking out dough, / Granny does your dog bite, “No, child, no”…
We who proclaimed anyone but Hillary are heretofore vindicated.
Moderate democrats? Manchin is a right wing democrat, not a moderate
Excellent analysis
Clearly, this permanently-angry, unpleasant little man will not rest until the world is reduced to a nuclear desert. Only in America is such a man elevated to the status of nation’s conscience.
“Picture worth a thousand words”: POTUS Trump yucking-it-up with Russians, Lavrov and Kislyak{…the ‘subject’ of a federal investigation} was a very explicit message to Putin; “Yeah Vlad, we’re still good. Nobody is going down, and the investigation is going nowhere.”
Hillary Clinton was a bad choice for POTUS, but she was not an ‘existential threat’ to Democracy, and ‘that’ is where Comey made his fatal mistake. Republicans who are ‘delaying’ the fall of Trump are hastening their own demise.
Hillary is just a different kind of criminal racketeer. US Democracy died when the deep state killed Kennedy and covered it up. Nobody knows what actually happened on 9-11. This is not fucking democracy. Its intra imperial warfare over which criminal organization shits on the people in their chosen style. Obama brought in international surveillance including us citizens and excluding the ultra-rich, he stalled on Tar Sands and is being reversed, he put fracking into high gear. opened the arctic for drilling, put unconstitutional drone assassinations in high gear, and tried to bring in the most onerous system of privatized corporate law to govern international trade. Obamacare is bondage, turning over your body to profiteering middle managers.
The authoritarian powers inherited by Trump reached their apex under Obama. The existential threat to Democracy is not any party or person; it is self delusion and complacency in the face of the Military-Industrial-2 party-Banking-Media complex. It is the laziness that allows americans to vote against the person they hate the most and think this has kept democracy alive despite massive corruption in both parties and the people’s money being wasted on oil wars and the destruction of viable Islamic states whose real crime is challenging the hegemony of the dollar.
I am an Arizonan. John McCain is a blight on this state. John McCain has no morals or ethics. He will do ANYTHING to put himself center-stage. I think of him as a disloyal megalomaniac with a severe ibferiority complex. He is a sicko controller-type in the extreme. he often yells and screams. Remenber the Keating Five. McCain should have gone to prison for that.
I do not like John McCain. I think he and Mr. Shumer are very dangerous.
Yes indeed they are.
McCain got shot down because he got mad at receiving anti-aircraft fire while making a pass over a target. He went back to get the anti-aircraft gun and got shot down. Kudos to the angry old man.
Over 5 million innocent civilians were killed by US bombs in SE Asia. McCain was enraged that somebody tried to stop him from killing more
McCain was a war criminal, like every other American who fought in Vietnam. I’m glad he got shot down, too bad he survived.
The executive branch of government, i.e., Trump & pals, is responsible for enforcing the laws. So while it’s nice that this law remains in place, I wouldn’t count on any enforcement from this group (not that the Democrats were good on this either, but these guys are worse).
however non-enforcement leaves them wide open to litigation…so…ya know….still a win.
A private citizen may only sue to enforce a law if the law includes a private citizen suit provision. Does this law have one? If not, enforcement is strictly up to the government.
My only question is why in the world would it take so long to finally fire Comey
Someone who did not understand nor want to do things in the proper procedure.
Maybe you should ask the guy who blew Comey a kiss in the Oval office, your beloved trump.
you should use spellcheck. it would lend more integrity to your writing.
Sorry, it was spelled correctly in the original version but incorrectly capitalized. I accidentally added a “v” when I fixed it. Thanks for catching!
This is not Trump versus Comey, this is Trump versus CIA and military industrial complex (McCain). They wanted to use Comey against Trump and Trump stopped them, their plan failed. But they already infiltrated Trump team 90%, Trump is just one person who must make wars to make them happy. Everything is about the profit from the war, Trump was against the war and they made media propaganda against him, now they stopped when he decided to go against North Korea and Iran. But he could not let them to use the FBI against him. This is power fight, it has nothing to do with the democracy as we could think when we read what Snowden and the intercept speak. When two snakes bite each others and one win, I don’t care, both snakes are not democratic. There is no democracy in America even without Trump.
Until we the people start tarring and feathering the likes of Songbird McCain, Collins and Graham Crackers, nothing good is going to happen for the American people
Well, Mr. Errant Butthole, so you think taking healthcare away from millions of Americans is a good thing. You are firmly a member of your Sociopath party.
10-4 I concur..you left out the MOAB bomb a few weeks ago, the Missilery attack on Syria, not to mention the gratuitous features in the WP about how the President is changing his mind on Afghanistan ( this story was more than a week after the MOAB bombing)..WTF, over!?.. it’d be laughable if it wasn’t so ludicrous..All the above was due to the powers that be yanking on the Presidential choke chain
Oh, I left out the other story a few days ago about how the Military went before congress to..complain that JSOC can’t do it all and is being stretched to the limit..”
Again..WTF!! Over?..lol..it’s like some guys at the NYT & WP are being fed this crap to print..
So there’s a time limit on calling out morons for being a moron?
What is it so we know for the future?
No time limit, just rearranging deck chairs and characters..The Titanic went up before it went down
yeah…i dunno. Seems to me (admittedly not a certified commentor to this forum) that Trump is in it for the money and praise…nothing else….give it up for industry and profiteering, don’t care about the rest.
McCain, hawkish though he may be, has some sense of integrity for what he sees as American values (agree or not) and sees the Comey firing as bad for the party, bad for Democracy given the timing and a move that makes Trump look very guilty of something.
Trump openly praised Comey when he thought Comey handed him the election. But when he realized Comey might actually be doing his job and intended to pursue the investigation of Trump, he wanted him gone. I’m no HC fan, but the email issue is and always has been a red herring as its been shown many others made the same mistake with private servers. Seems Comey did what he thought he needed to with respect to HC the week before the election. This seems the simplest explanation.
although I agree with your comment about no democracy even without Trump….but don’t necessarily think Trump is ‘thinking’ his way through this as an anti-war advocate with some semblance of humanity. From what I read in his actions, its all about making money for his friends.
Comey the most respected person in America. LMAO – McCain is senile.
Never mind how much this old fart wants to fuck over the Trump administration, for good, or just because he is a vindictive fucking arsehole, he stays a threat to world peace. Fucking war monger. Nothing less.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/30/mccain-north-korea-missiles-237803
Here is an interesting look at what significant favour the Trump Administration has done for the U.S. oil industry and its methane emissions:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.ca/2017/02/flaring-natural-gas-oil-industry-pastime.html
It makes one wonder how many members of Congress are in the back pockets of the oil lobby.
Back pockets? They’re in the goddamn living-room (crime) family photo for all to see now.
You got that right. No need for an oil lobby when Rex Tillerson is Sec of State.
McCain is an idiot, a racist, a bully and a petty vindictive asshole. Is he still screaming at the wives and loved ones of missing Vietam POW’s who just want closure?