Chapter 608 - 285: Two-thirds

Harrisburg, the Speaker’s Office of the House of Representatives.

Dante Russo sat behind his desk.

The man who controlled the agenda of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives was staring hard at Leo, who sat opposite him, looking at him as if he were a madman.

"What did you say?"

Russo even forgot to light the freshly cut cigar in his hand.

"Say that again, Leo."

"I said, I want to invoke the suspension of the rules."

Leo sat in the guest chair, his hands folded in his lap.

"The next time the bill reaches the House floor, I want it to go straight to a final vote."

"Impossible."

Russo threw the cigar onto his desk with a smack.

He shot to his feet and began pacing back and forth in his office, his leather shoes making muffled thuds on the carpet.

"Leo, you’re a Mayor. You understand the executive branch, but you don’t understand the legislative process."

Russo walked over to a map of Pennsylvania’s electoral districts, extended a finger, and jabbed forcefully at the colored blocks on it.

"Suspending the rules is the nuclear option. Once you use it, we skip the remaining second and third readings, we skip all debate, and we settle everything in one fell swoop."

"And because it’s so powerful, the Constitution put a lock on it."

Russo turned around and held up two fingers.

"A two-thirds majority."

"We need two-thirds of the members present to vote ’aye’ to even start this procedure."

Russo started to run the numbers, speaking quickly.

"The House has 203 seats in total. Two-thirds of that is 136 votes."

"Right now, even though we Democrats are the majority party, we only have 110 seats. Even if I can guarantee that every single Democrat toes the line, that the moderates don’t defect, we’d still only have 110 votes."

"That leaves us a full 26 votes short of 136."

Russo walked up to Leo and leaned over him, his hands gripping the arms of the chair.

"Twenty-six votes, Leo."

"That means we need at least 26 Republicans to cross the aisle."

"If we bring this motion and it fails, we’ll be making fools of ourselves. I’ll become a laughingstock."

Faced with Russo’s tirade, Leo remained seated, his posture unchanged.

"Dante."

Leo finally spoke.

"I know it’s difficult."

"And I know that for you to expend this level of political capital will come at a huge cost."

Leo took a business card from the inner pocket of his coat.

It was a very plain business card, with no fancy titles—just a name and private contact information.

But the weight of that name was enough to crush all hesitation in the room.

Leo placed the card on the desk, holding it down with two fingers as he slowly pushed it across to Russo.

"Senator Sanders asked me to give this to you."

Russo’s gaze fell upon the business card.

His pupils contracted slightly.

"This year’s congressional elections."

Leo lowered his voice, which now held a demonic allure.

"The Pennsylvania federal senator seat is up for election."

"The incumbent, Senator Pat Toomey, announced last year that he wouldn’t be seeking reelection for health reasons."

Leo stared into Russo’s eyes.

"That seat is open. The Republicans are already tearing each other apart fighting for it, but we Democrats haven’t put forward a candidate with enough weight."

"Sanders wants you to take that seat."

Leo pushed the business card toward Russo.

"He’s already cleared the path for the party nomination and has already spoken to the Whip in Washington."

"You just have to say the word, and you’ll be the Democratic Party’s sole candidate for Senator in Pennsylvania."

Russo’s breathing instantly grew heavy.

He reached out and picked up the business card.

His thumb rubbed back and forth over the name, as if confirming the tangible reality of the cardstock.

’A federal senator.’

’The heart of the nation’s power, with only a hundred seats.’

’Here, I’m the Speaker of the State Assembly. My power is immense, but in the end, I’m ultimately just a regional lord.’

’But there, on Capitol Hill, I would become one of the one hundred people who decide the nation’s diplomacy, judicial appointments, even war and peace.’

’This is a quantum leap.’

"Dante, you’re one of us Progressives," Leo continued, upping the ante. "If we could get someone like Murphy into the Senate, imagine what we could do for you."

"If you agree to run, I will mobilize all my resources to back your campaign. The Unions, the media, and the hundreds of thousands of voters from the Industrial Revival Alliance will all be your staunchest supporters."

Leo looked at Russo.

"Just give the word, and that seat is yours."

Russo looked up at Leo.

"Deal."

Russo tucked the business card into his shirt pocket, close to his chest.

"If this is a promise from Sanders, I believe it."

"But, Leo."

Russo regained his composure and returned to the brutal math problem.

"Even if I’m willing to bet my political career and play this game with you, that 26-vote gap remains an impasse."

"Without cooperation from the Republicans, we’re just dreaming."

"Why the rush?"

Russo didn’t quite understand.

"We have the majority. We can go through the regular process. It’s slower, sure, but as long as we apply pressure in committee, we can still get it passed. Why take such a huge risk with suspending the rules?"

"Because of time."

Leo stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the gloomy Harrisburg sky.

"Dante, you’re underestimating the pharmaceutical giants."

"They react fast, and they have deep pockets."

"If we go through the regular process, the bill has to sit in committee for at least a week. Then comes the second reading, debate, amendments, and finally, the third reading."

"That’s at least three weeks in total."

Leo turned around, his eyes cold and sharp.

"Three weeks is enough time for the health insurance lobbyists to turn over every single floor tile in this building."

"They’ll show up with briefcases full of cash, knocking on the door of every swing vote. They’ll run a deluge of ads, terrifying voters by saying this bill will destroy the healthcare system. They’ll propose a thousand amendments to gut the bill until it’s unrecognizable."

"They’ll drag it out until we’re dead in the water."

"The public’s enthusiasm won’t last that long."

Leo clenched his fists.

"This is a war."

"And in modern warfare, speed is everything."

"What I want is a blitzkrieg."

"While they’re still mobilizing their funds, while they’re still writing their press releases."

"We flip the table ahead of time."

"I want to leave them with no time to react, confronting them with a done deal."

Listening to Leo, Russo had to admit that the young man’s political instincts were terrifyingly sharp.

"Alright, a blitzkrieg."

Russo nodded.

"But that brings us back to square one. Where do those 26 Republican votes come from?"

"You can’t expect me to persuade them. I don’t have that kind of pull with the Republicans."

Leo adjusted his collar, a look of absolute confidence on his face, as if he had everything under control.

"Leave those 26 votes to me."

"I’ll have Washington find them for us."

"Washington?" Russo frowned. "You mean Sanders? He’s powerful, but he can’t order Pennsylvania’s Republican Representatives around."

"You don’t need to worry about that, Dante."

Leo walked to the door.

"You just need to get the Pennsylvania Democrats on board and get your gavel ready."

Leo put his hand on the doorknob and glanced back at Russo.

"We’re not just going to win."

"We’re going to crush them."

"I want a vote count so lopsided it shuts everyone up."

With that, Leo pushed the door open and walked out.

Russo was left alone in the office.

He felt for the business card in his breast pocket.

The stiff cardstock pressed against the fabric, a tangible presence.

Russo took a deep breath and picked up the phone on his desk.

"Notify all Democratic Representatives. We’re calling a caucus meeting now."

"Attendance is mandatory. No excuses. I want every single person there."