GOP hits back at Schumer show votes
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky). Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Republican senators are trying to highlight Vice President Harris' shifting policy positions this week as they seek to counter Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) summer of "show votes."
Why it matters: They will force Democrats to block bills on hot political topics like IVF, the border and fracking — drawing attention to some issues where Harris has flip-flopped, Axios has learned.
- First up: Republicans aim to de-fang Schumer's bid to paint Republicans as anti-IVF by pointing to their own plans to boost access to the treatment.
- The measures won't pass, requiring just one Democrat to object. But the effort could provide fodder for campaign ads.
- Two Republican Senate aides familiar with the plan described it as giving an opportunity for Democrats to stand with or abandon Harris' "radical" agenda.
- Harris has backed off key policy stances from her 2020 presidential run, including her support for bans on fracking, mandatory buy-back programs for assault weapons, and decriminalizing illegal border crossings.
Driving the news: Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a leadership contender also running for re-election this year, kicked things off Monday night by calling for unanimous consent on a bill that aims to help people save and pay for expensive IVF treatments.
- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will aim to pass his IVF bill with Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) on Tuesday afternoon.
- The move comes ahead of an afternoon vote where Republicans are expected to kill a separate IVF bill backed by Democrats — the second time Schumer has forced a vote on the measure.
- GOP senators will also seek to pass bills addressing immigration and energy policies through unanimous agreement, four Senate sources familiar with the plans told Axios.
The big picture: Schumer has spent the summer forcing messaging votes on IVF access, the child tax credit and a bipartisan border bill.
- Republican leaders have repeatedly slammed his "show vote" strategy.
- Now, they're trying to use what little power they have over the floor to notch some political points themselves.
