DC Deciphered

In a post a couple weeks, Outgunned, I talked about the Obama administration gun rule that the House had just voted to overturn and explained why Democrats would not be able to block it with a filibuster when it came up for a vote in the Senate.  Today, the Senate held that vote, and by a vote of 57-43 the measure to overturn the Obama rule passed.  Now all that’s needed to make it official is President Trump’s signature.

(The gun rule itself – which had been labeled a background check law or mental illness law as shorthand, when it passed the House – is a little more complicated than those headlines made it seem, so please read “the gun rule” section of Outgunned if you want a reminder of what this rule is about).  And, if you’re looking at that number of “yea” votes and wondering, the Democrats who voted to overturn the rule are:  Joe Donnelly, Joe Manchin, Jon Tester and Heidi Heitkamp, along with Independent Senator Angus King (who caucuses with the Democrats).