US Democratic House of Representatives dies, only 7 seats apart from the Republican Party

Congressional gap continues to narrow
Senate processing of infrastructure investment plan’green light’

[아시아경제 뉴욕=백종민 특파원] With the death of a US Democratic member of the House of Representatives, the gap in seats with the Republican Party has narrowed to just seven.

A’green light’ came into the legislation of the large-scale infrastructure investment plan being promoted by the Joe Biden administration, but there is still a situation where it is difficult to be assured of taking the initiative in state affairs.

According to the Associated Press and other US media, on the 6th (local time), Democratic Congressman Alsey Hastings (Florida) died of a chronic illness.

Hastings, a former civil rights attorney, was nominated in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter of the Democratic Party as a judge in the Southern Florida District Court. He was Florida’s first black federal judge.

However, after being elected to the Federal House of Representatives in 1992, he has worked as a politician, although he was brought to criminal trial for bribery related to the trial and was the sixth federal judge to be impeached by the Senate in history.

President Biden commemorated that “Hastings fought to abolish black and white separatism in hotels, restaurants and public places in southern Florida.”

The WP pointed out that the Hastings death was narrowing the already meager Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

In the federal parliamentary elections held last year with the US presidential election, the Democratic Party won only 222 seats unexpectedly, maintaining an uneasy advantage over the Republican Party, which won 211 seats.

Even Lee, the Democratic House of Representatives, has now been reduced to 218 seats due to the death of Hastings, after three lawmakers left to assume government positions with the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration.

The timing of the special election to fill Hastings’ seat will also be decided by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida. As the governor is a Republican party and Florida is the place where former President Donald Trump won the last presidential election, the Democrats are not in a safe situation.

Senate infrastructure bill investment possibility’green light’

However, the White House and the Democratic Party confirmed hope in the Biden administration’s infrastructure investment plan.

Senate Secretary-General Elizabeth McDonough made a decision the previous day that the Senate could use the reconciliation process by revising the 2021 budget already in place to address infrastructure budgets.

This is only 50 Democratic Party lawmakers to avoid the Republican Party’s legal interference with doctors (Filibuster). That means we can process the bill.

The US has opened a way to bypass the filibuster through the budget adjustment process, one bill per year on spending and income.

A spokesman for Democratic Senate Chuck Schumer said of the decision as “an important step forward that Democrats can use this route if necessary.”

The variable is Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative in the Democratic Party. Congressman Manchin opposed the Biden government’s plan to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and argued for an increase to 25%. If Congressman Manchin disagrees, the use of budget adjustment will not result in a majority vote.

New York = correspondent Baek Jong-min [email protected]