Ron Johnson’s Stunt Called ‘Godawful’ and ‘Stupid’ On Both Sides Of the Aisle

Both Ron Johnson and the filibuster may be headed to the ash heap of history in the not too distant future and good riddance to bad garbage. Johnson simply had to have the humongous 628-page stimulus bill read out loud, a procedure which concluded Friday morning. That prompted Chuck Schumer to say he hoped Johnson “enjoyed his Thursday evening” — since nobody else did. The Hill:

“This … is a chaotic process to start with, and it’s certainly working out that way,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.).

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) described the hectic session as “god-awful” and dilatory given that Senate Democrats are expected to have the votes to pass the coronavirus bill — it’s just a question of when.

“It will come to an end. I don’t know if it will be one day or five days. … It’s a total waste of time. I wish we could change it,” Durbin said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said a vote-a-rama allows senators to force votes, something they aren’t normally able to do, but added that it was also “stupid.”

The session comes after the Senate was in session until early Friday morning after Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) forced the floor staff to read the entirety of the 628-page Senate bill once it was unveiled on Thursday afternoon.

“The Senate’s going to take a lot of votes, but we are going to power through and finish this bill, however long it takes,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Friday morning.

Though Johnson’s move kept the Senate in throughout the night, Democrats were able to shorten what was expected to be 20 hours of debate time down to three hours on Friday morning.

Johnson may now join Ted Cruz in the “guy you could murder and nobody would convict you” category. He apparently thinks this is cute to somebody, organizing “shifts” of GOP senators to wander on and off the Senate floor and force votes on hundreds of amendments. This is a relief package for a national emergency, the likes of which have not been seen for some time, and to Johnson it’s political theater. He’s up to reelection in 2022. He needs to be shown the door, permanently.