There have been many surprises this lame duck from passing DADT repeal, possibly passing Gillebrand's "Christmas miracle 9/11 health bill", as well as making progress on NEW START.
The Food Safety bill had been passed early in the lame duck by the Senate but since it was sequence wrong (the House was suppose to pass the bill first), it was in limbo.
Well tonight no more. The Food Safety Bill was just passed by unanimous consent in the Senate!
http://thehill.com/...
Looks like Senators are getting tired and want to go home. Instead of having a huge fight over DADT repeal yesterday the Senate decided to vote for cloture and the final bill on the same day.
Well tonight the Senate has just passed the Food Safety bill by unanimous consent.
The Senate unexpectedly approved food safety legislation by unanimous consent Sunday evening, rescuing a bill that floated in limbo for weeks because of a clerical error.
The Food Safety bill had been passed originally at the end of November by the Senate but because of a screw up the bill was in limbo.
The Senate passed the Food Safety and Modernization Act on Nov. 30 by a vote of 73-25. But the bill was later invalidated by a technical objection because it was a revenue-raising measure that did not originate in the House — Senate staff had failed to substitute the food safety language into a House-originated bill.
For what ever reason the GOP said okay to unanimous consent to pass the bill.
Democrats first attempted to attach the food safety bill to the two-and-a-half-month spending measure but Republicans balked because they wanted to keep that measure clean, according to Senate aides.
Republicans, however, later agreed to pass it by unanimous consent.
I think Senators are getting tired. Even Tom Coburn has backed off.
Reid’s staff earlier in the day had told a coalition of groups supporting the legislation that it had a chance of passing but the prospects appeared to dim as Sunday wore on. The swift approval by unanimous consent caught some aides and lobbyists working on it by surprise.
Sen. Tom Coburn, the outspoken conservative Republican from Oklahoma, had been blocking the legislation. He lifted his objection at the final moment.