Does anybody really know what time it is?
It took just 14 seconds to approve an order moving Americans’ clocks an hour ahead, permanently. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) rose, requested that S. 623 be “discharged” from the Senate Commerce Committee, which hadn’t approved it, then said: “I ask unanimous consent that the Rubio substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), the presiding officer, was complicit in the scheme. She quickly declared “without objection, so ordered” and then, in her latest breach of decorum, stage-whispered “yes!” into the microphone and pumped two celebratory fists.
Rubio and Sinema had pulled a fast one. A proposal with only 18 co-sponsors cleared the body in a New York minute. Neither the Democratic whip nor the Republican whip in the Senate knew it was happening. And the Senate has no way to claw back the bill, so it goes to the House — which hopefully will be a bit more deliberative before messing with Father Time.
Reporting by The Post’s Paul Kane and BuzzFeed’s Paul McLeod indicates Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), top Republican on the Commerce Committee, had planned to object to the “unanimous consent” request to pass what he calls “bad legislation,” but decided not to at the last minute because he’s focused on more pressing matters, such as the war in Ukraine.
In other words, it’s Vladimir Putin’s fault that our clocks may change.
Staff for other senators had been informed by Rubio’s office about the time-change hustle, but word didn’t reach many of the members — perhaps because people wrongly thought Wicker would handle the objection. It was a timely reminder: You snooze, you lose.
Public-health advocates were caught napping. Though proponents of the change say it will be good for commerce and 20 states have already endorsed the move, there’s evidence that the time change, resulting in dark mornings, would be bad for children’s learning.
It’s certainly bad for the legislative process. Things are so awful these days that lawmakers celebrate when they achieve even routine stuff, such as keeping the government running. If senators start to think they can sneak significant bills to passage without a vote, the small store of trust that remains in the chamber would quickly dissipate. Would Democrats add a few Supreme Court justices? Would Republicans declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election? Would Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) unilaterally declare war on Russia?
Also, if Congress does plan to change time, it would make more sense to turn the clocks backward than forward. Democrats would be wise to turn them back to March 9, when a foolish rebellion by House Democrats forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi to jettison from a spending bill a hard-won compromise with Republicans to provide $15 billion in covid-fighting funds. Now the pandemic is surging again in Europe, the United States is running out of money to fight another wave, and prospects for more legislation are dim.
Senate Republicans might turn back time to March 10, when 31 of them voted against the spending bill, which included $13.6 billion for Ukraine. After opposing that funding, they’re now demanding that President Biden spend more to keep Ukraine armed.
Then again, Republicans might all want to turn back time further, to 2019, when they lined up against Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, during President Donald Trump’s impeachment over suspending Ukraine’s military aid. That’s when Senate Republicans Richard Burr (N.C.), John Neely Kennedy (La.), John Cornyn (Tex.), John Barrasso (Wyo.) and others embraced the Russian propaganda claiming Ukraine interfered in U.S. elections. The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, who had been warned he was echoing Kremlin propaganda, replied: “President Trump had good reason to be wary of Ukrainian election meddling against his campaign and of widespread corruption in that country.”
Instead, the Senate decrees that the clocks should move forward, a move Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a supporter of the sneaky change, claims would result in “more sunshine.” The former football coach apparently believes the Senate time-change bill altered the rotation of the Earth — by unanimous consent.
