Bipartisan Bill Sanctioning Russia and Iran Hits Procedural Roadblock
by Countable | 6.21.17
A bipartisan bill that expands sanctions on Russia and Iran has hit a parliamentary snag in the House of Representatives less than a week after the Senate passed it on a 98-2 vote. House lawmakers say that there’s a "blue slip" violation in the bill (not to be confused with the Senate’s blue slip rule — more on that later), and that they’ll need to work with the Senate to resolve the issue before they can pass it.
Blue slip violations in the House occur when the Senate sends the lower chamber a bill involving taxes and spending that didn’t originate in the House, going against the requirement by the Constitution’s Origination Clause that:
"All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.”
It’s worth noting that the framers of the Constitution included the Origination Clause as part of the Great Compromise between large and small states as a way of offsetting the lack of proportionality in the Senate that made large states unhappy.
The Senate has blue slips too?
It does, and they’re completely unrelated to blue slip violations in the House.
In the Senate, a blue slip is provided by the senators who represent the home state of a judicial nominee to the chair of the Judiciary Committee to signify that they support the nominee. Traditionally, if either of the state’s senators doesn’t return a blue slip the chair won’t move ahead with nomination, giving individual senators from a judicial nominee’s home state significant power over their fate.
What does this mean for the bill?
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said that "I think the Senate can move pretty quickly to correct that provision and send it back to us," and he wouldn’t insist his committee hold a hearing on the bill once it’s fixed. Brady added:
"At the end of the day, this isn’t a policy issue; this isn’t a partisan issue. This is a constitutional issue that we’ll address in a positive way.”
Read more about the bill, cast your vote on it, and tell your lawmakers what you think of it by following the link below:
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Kremlin / Public Domain)
Written by Countable
The Latest
-
How Do the Rich Pay Taxes? Is the Current Tax System Fair?Marginal tax rate.Capital gains tax.Estate tax.What do they all mean? And how do the rich use them to pay (or not pay) taxes? read more...
-
The DC: Lowering the voting age to 16, and... 🛑 Should Congress block Trump's emergency order?Welcome to Friday, left, right, and centers...Do we need an emergency order to block unauthorized immigrants? Or do we need to read more...
-
Report: Hate Group Count Hits 20-Year High Amid Rise in White SupremacyWhat’s the story? The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks hate groups, has found a 30 percent read more...
Let's make this easy for you. Pretend the Russians are democrats....
Hang ups like this are unacceptable. It's a part of why Americans are so fed up with their elected officials. Get the job done and move onto something to improve the lives of American middle and lower class and the unfortunate around the world.
Put your country before party for once!
I am reading my representative is holding this up. It's been almost a year and you still have not taken action against a foreign power that interfered in our elections ! Why can't you get anything done!?
This is ridiculous. Where are your ethics
Typical Conservative hesitation to do the right thing...
This is playing Politics with our Security
Pass sanctions on Russia
Congress just needs to pass this bill asap. With all the investigations going on with the possibility of the president colluding with the Russians, this should be a non-brainier. Please do not water this bill down. Russia should be heavily sanctioned for meddling in our election and the president should NOT be allowed to change it!
Whatever it takes sanctions against Russia should be kept and more added.Everyone understanding how Russia effected our elections. For those who wanted to act like it didn't happen, what are they trying to hide?I have a problem with more sanctions on Iran if it compromises the deal that was negotiated with President Obama and other countries.
This is outrageous. Uphold sanctions and impose stinging sanctions now. Outrageous. Just get it done NOW.
Healthcare is a majority that has to go through but Russia can wait that makes no sense
Get this passed and level the sanctions on Russia that they do rightly deserve. The fact that it has taken this long to do anything against a power that interfered with our democracy is humiliating. Either stand up to Russia Republicans, or lose in re-election...your call.
Enough of the procedural roadblocks. It's time the US took forceful action against Russia for interfering in our election. Russia's actions are tantamount to an act of war. And all we're talking about is sanctions. Why are the Republicans refusing to act? Let's get this bill to Trump and have him sign it into law.
Get the bill and the sanctions passed asap. So far Russia is playing with our Democracy as a cat plays with its toys!
Get the sanctions going against Russia and Iran.
Russia and Iran continue to prop up the Assad regime in Syria who engages in acts of terrorism against his own people. Putin allows the jailing, torturing, and killing of gay men in Chechnya. These two regimes are allowing atrocities to be committed. If we allow this to continue we are no better.
Kind of makes you wonder if this isn't the reason this bill passed in the first place. They voted for it knowing this would happen and it wouldn't be implemented. Let's see if corrective action us indeed taken. If not my cynicism may prove to be well founded
Get it done now!
We don't need sanctions on Russia or Iran. We need dialogue and solutions that work for all parties. After the collapse of the USSR we gave Russia Boris Yeltsin. The US over threw an elected government in Iran during the 50s for oil. If we don't like people interfering with our elections then let's agree to respect others electoral process. If we don't want to see a world where nations interfere in elections then we should stop doing it ourselves.