‘What Comes Around, Goes Around’: Dems Promise Retribution for the Senate GOP’s New Delay Tactics

“I just know that there were a lot of times Leader McConnell warned us about things that came back to bite us,” Sen. Mark Warner said, grinning.

Chuck Schumer

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer meets with reporters at the Capitol. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Pedantic. Factionalized. Dog-tired. They’re all words that could describe the state of the U.S. Senate this week.

In combat by roll call vote, the GOP earned a small victory this week by delaying the confirmation of several judges, eventually striking a deal with the Democrats to prevent the seating of four liberal judges to circuit court spots.

But the tactics that ground the chamber to a halt came at a curious time: Right before Republicans retake the Senate majority. And if Democrats are to be believed, the GOP’s dilatory schemes might spark a prolonged war come next Congress, when Republicans try to pass their own bills and confirm their own nominees.