This diary is inspired by Josh Cryer’s article: www.democraticunderground.com/…
I comment on that here not to plagiarize but to add weight and attention Cryer’s very important insights.
The only thing the Constitution says about control of the Senate is:
"The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States."
There is nothing that says anything about a "majority leader" and nothing that gives the Majority Leader any power whatsoever. It has only been customary for the VP to delegate that to voting Senators. But in an era where McConnell has broken so many norms, it is time we break one more norm and return to what the Constitution says. On January 20, Harris should take her rightful place as President of the Senate and discharge those duties such as assigning committees and scheduling votes. I don't know why this hasn't come up before. It is right there in the Constitution.
This article by Nicolas Carteron spells out how it would work, so I won't repeat it here.
Let me state the obvious. By taking this action, Biden can prevent his cabinet appointments, judicial nominees, and legislation from being blocked arbitrarily by McConnell. Of course, if the Republicans hold a majority, they could all vote against an appointment, but that rarely happens. And if they decide to be arbitrary and vote against everything, then they wouldn't get any funding for the pet projects in their states. You have to play ball with the President of the Senate. That's what McConnell has done. Nobody ever told him he isn't actually the President of the Senate.
How can we make this happen?