It’s official now

The Senate organizing rules have gone into effect this evening. Democrats now officially control the Senate majority and every committee. Republicans used procedural moves to stall it as long as they could, but in the end they couldn’t stop the inevitable. It’s our Senate now.

This means that Chuck Schumer is now officially Senate Majority Leader. It means that the Senate Committee Chairs are all now Democrats. It means that now-former Committee Chairs like Lindsey Graham can no longer unilaterally hold up President Biden’s remaining cabinet nominees.

Now officially in the minority, Senate Republicans can still use certain procedural moves to slightly delay the remaining pieces of the puzzle, such as the confirmation of Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland. But that’ll all move more quickly now.

The Senate is a deliberative body, so it moves at the speed of mud on a good day. But once Mitch McConnell caved, this day was inevitable. It’s our Senate now.