The Senate's Bitter Red Edge

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

One of Kamala Harris's first official duties yesterday as the new Vice President of the United States of America was to swear in three new US senators.   After the three - Alex Padilla of California and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia - were duly sworn in, the Senate officially had fifty members from each party.  In that event, the title of "majority party" in the Senate goes to whichever party also has the ability to cast the tie-breaking vote, a responsibility that belongs to the Vice President.  And, as of noon yesterday, the Vice President is a Democrat.

So the Democrats are officially the majority party in the US Senate for the first time since 2014.  But a 50-50 membership still leaves room for constant surprises as individual votes shift around on various matters.

Yesterday afternoon, after the new senators had been sworn in, there was a significant vote in the upper chamber as the Senate voted to confirm the first official member of the Biden Cabinet.  Avril Haines was confirmed to the post of Director of National Intelligence by a vote of 84-10, with six members not voting.

As a rule, voting to confirm cabinet selections is a matter of routine and a courtesy that is extended by members of the Senate to the incoming administration, except in cases where the nominees enter the process as controversial or become controversial during the confirmation hearings.

Ms. Haines stirred the concern of Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas who had questions about her response to a particular question in her hearing.  Cotton placed a hold on her nomination until she answered his concerns, and he ultimately withdrew the hold and wound up voting to confirm her.  But ten others, all Republicans, did not.

The ten negative votes may have revealed themselves to be the core of the problematic senators with whom Biden will have to deal.  Those voting against Haines were:  Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Mike Lee of Utah, Roger Marshall of Kansas, James Risch of Idaho, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and, of course Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri.

The new Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kenrucky, did not have a problem with the nomination of Avril Haines - and neither did Republican Policy Committee Chairman Roy Blunt of Missouri.  Heck, even Tommy Tuberville, the outspoken new GOP senator from Alabama, supported her confirmation.  

Ms. Haines was an appropriate selection, someone with the training and experience to handle a very demanding position, a person who was relatively controversy free.  Her approval was a foregone conclusion - a routine courtesy to the new administration.  

But ten voted against her.  Those ten have now identified themselves as senators with politically based agendas who bear watching.   If they feel emboldened to fly their flags of dissent on this relatively non-controversial matter, they are likely to stand in opposition to the majority of what the Biden administration tries to accomplish. 

Those ten are likely to become the Senate's bitter red edge - and it's good to know who they are.