Tuesday
Dec222009
Sen. Inhofe Misses Second Cloture Vote For Family Reasons
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 12:22PM
By Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Ok.), the sole Senator not to make the second cloture vote Tuesday morning, missed the procedural step in order to accompany his wife and family back to his home state for Christmas.
According to a member of Inhofe’s staff, the Oklahoman Republican will return Wednesday for the remainder of the votes.
Inhofe voted against the first cloture vote early Monday morning and has arranged to have a prepared statement voicing his opposition to the legislation entered into the Congressional record upon each vote taken in his absence.
This is not Inhofe’s only trip within recent days. The Senator, who serves as Ranking Member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, ventured to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference last week in an attempt to inform the international audience over what Inhofe perceives as the unlikelihood of cap and trade legislation passing through the Senate.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Ok.), the sole Senator not to make the second cloture vote Tuesday morning, missed the procedural step in order to accompany his wife and family back to his home state for Christmas.
According to a member of Inhofe’s staff, the Oklahoman Republican will return Wednesday for the remainder of the votes.
Inhofe voted against the first cloture vote early Monday morning and has arranged to have a prepared statement voicing his opposition to the legislation entered into the Congressional record upon each vote taken in his absence.
This is not Inhofe’s only trip within recent days. The Senator, who serves as Ranking Member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, ventured to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference last week in an attempt to inform the international audience over what Inhofe perceives as the unlikelihood of cap and trade legislation passing through the Senate.
Reader Comments (2)
What kind of deal did Harry Reid work out with him.
That he would not show up to vote Ok you need to
clean house!
It's the Democrats who need 60 senators to show up and vote YES for cloture. If they get 59 Yeses and 0 Nos, cloture does not pass. So give Inhofe a break on this one, his vote does not matter. Inhofe is a fantastic senator!
When it comes to final passage, yes, a simple majority is needed, and all the NO votes need to stand up and be counted. Of course, with a 60 - 40 majority, we'll never get close to the 51 votes we need to stop the legislation. We lost this when Ted Stevens was unfairly convicted last year and when Al Franken stole the Minnesota Senate seat and when Massachusetts did an end run around their Senate succession rules.