You may recall that during the height of the pandemic, Democrats were on board with pretty much any rule or restriction suggested by anyone.
Now that they’re trying to pass their spending bill? Not so much.
The New York Post reports:
Senate Dems skipping COVID testing to push spending bill vote: reportThat’s sick!Senate Democrats are embracing a “Don’t Test, Don’t Tell” policy this weekend as they try to ram a $764 billion spending bill through the 50-50 chamber — knowing that even one COVID-19 positive could blow up their plans.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has set a Saturday test vote for the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which needs all 50 Democrats on board so Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tiebreaking vote in its favor.“They’re not going to delay it if a member has gotten COVID,” a senior Senate aide told Puck News. “Counterparts are saying they’re not going to test anymore. It’s not an official mandate but we all know we’re not letting COVID get in the way. The deal is happening. Less testing, just wear masks and get it done.”Another source told the outlet that even if a senator did catch the virus, “you can bring your ventilator and still vote.”
Brittany Bernstein of National Review provides this reminder:
If the Puck News report is true, Democrats are willing to potentially expose their colleagues to Covid despite spending much of the last two years advocating for more stringent Covid-mitigation strategies, including in the Capitol.Schumer criticized Republicans in October 2020 after the Washington Post reported that GOP advisers were suggesting that voting on the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett could feature “a system in which the committee vote would be held in the Senate chamber, with ill senators voting from the visitors’ galleries above the floor so they can maintain distance.”Schumer said at the time that then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham “must put into place a thorough testing procedure that is in accordance with CDC best practices before hearings can take place.” He called for every senator and relevant staff to have negative tests on two consecutive days and to have completed the “appropriate quarantining period,” as well as to institute mandatory testing every day of the hearingsHe said then: “Failure to implement a thorough testing approach would be intentionally reckless, and could reasonably lead some wonder if Chairman Graham and Leader McConnell may not want to know the results, because it could delay this already illegitimate process.”
Rules for thee, but not for me.
Just typical.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY