Byron York has a piece in the print edition of National Review about how we have dealt with recent Senatorial health concerns. For example:
Just hours after word got out that South Dakota Senator Time Johnson had fallen ill with a serious brain ailment, minority leader Mitch McConnell's office got in touch with Republicans around the Senate. The message: Do not--repeat, do not--talk about the political implications of Johnson's illness. Besides being genuinely concerned about Johnson, Republicans worried about their image and didn't want even to hint that they were seeking any advantage from their Democratic colleague's misfortune.
But, York points out, when the Senate came into session in 2001 split 50-50, with Republicans in nominal control because the President of the Senate was VPOTUS Dick Cheney, Senate Democrats started a "Strom Thurmond Death Watch," inserting unique language into the organizing rules about how committees should be restructured if partisan majority shifted during the session. There was open discussion about Thurmond's health and the chances of his death in the next two years. Of course, this was all rendered moot by the party switch of Jim Jeffords.
This year, Republicans pushed for no language about re-structuring the Senate should partisan control shift mid-session. York does not doubt that should, for whatever reason, Democrats lose a Senator (say Johnson resigns or Joe Lieberman changes parties), that Republicans would take control, but unlike 2001 when the changing of the guards was seamless after Jeffords's party switch, York predicts a long and messy struggle over Senate re-organization.
Note: Make sure you see Jason's post about Senator Johnson's improving health. We wish him the best.
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