Summing Up I

Beating Cabinet nominees

In response to Ian's post:  Goldwater v. Carter  (Fisher, p. 265).

In response to Bruno's post -- Manu Raju and Ted Barrett report at CNN:

Democrats are worried that if Trump adds two Democrats to his Cabinet -- potentially North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin -- the balance of power in the chamber could tilt further to the GOP. So they are making the case to their colleagues to stay put.
...
If Manchin and Heitkamp were to leave for the Trump administration, the GOP would have a clear shot to pick up the open seats in 2018. In West Virginia, the Democratic governor, Earl Ray Tomblin, would fill the open seat until the next election in the red state. And in North Dakota, a special election would occur within 95 days of the vacancy, giving the GOP an immediate chance to grow their numbers in the first year under Trump.

In response to Caroline's question:

• Technical corrections legislation
• Scott Levy in the Straus reader (p. 36): "How does one discern a well-drafted bill from a poorly drafted one?  How does one distinguish a drafting error from a questionable policy decision?  To be honest, I do not know that we can."
• Process issues -- Heather Caygle reports at Politico:
  

  SENATE TAKES A MULLIGAN— Turns out that in the Senate, you can pass a bill – and then take it right back. On Monday afternoon, the Senate easily cleared money-laundering legislation from Sens. Richard Shelby and Sherrod Brown and then almost as quickly, reversed its passage. Sources tell Huddle that the Democratic cloakroom had accidentally OK’d the hotline request that had included the terrorism financing measure and other items, without registering an objection that came from their own side. Hey, mistakes happen.

  So where did that objection come from? West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who along with three other Democrats from coal states has vowed to gum up the works on anything and everything in the Senate until legislation regarding health care and pensions for coal-miners gets addressed in the chamber. Confirming the hold, a Manchin spox emailed us: “We are going to object to everything going forward.”

• Once in a while, Congress just repeals.  Case study:  Medicare catastrophic health insurance.

The Elusive Question of the Mandate

• Popular vote for president
• Turnout
• House vote in 2016
• In 2014, GOP got 56.8% of seats with 51.2% of the vote.
• Historical:  popular vote and seats (Table 2-2)
• Congressional approval

The Oath of Office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

On January 12, 1991, House Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) spoke about the impending Gulf War. This is what grownups look like: