Don't Dems just need 59 votes to pass this?
No, the 2/3rds thing rounds upwards, they need 60 for the cloture
It's 3/5ths. And 3/5ths of 98 is 58.8, which rounds up to 59. They only need 60 votes if there are 99 or 100 senators there.
Oops, yeah, brain fart.
Aren't there 99 senators? TKen is voting
I was just going off of what you said upthread: "Franken won't be there, and Kennedy probably won't be."
Also, the Politico article you linked to says: "Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) — just tapped by Obama to be the new Commerce secretary — has insisted so far that he will not participate in any more Senate votes, though it would be surprising for him to let the president fail based on this position."
