Updated 7:50 p.m. | Thursday may have represented a great victory for advocates of the Senate's bipartisan rewrite of immigration laws, but the way the debate ended didn't portend an easing of partisanship in the chamber. After three weeks of debate and 18 votes, the Senate voted overwhelmingly, 68-32, to pass an immigration overhaul after years of trying and failing to accomplish similar goals. "At times like these when our better angels are tested again, to reject this bill would tear the fabric of America asunder. It would declare that America no longer seeks to be the shining city on the hill that attracts and is admired by people around the globe," New York Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a leader of the "gang of eight," said just before the vote. But when the Senate returns after the Independence Day recess, the partisan divide is on track to widen, particularly when it comes to a looming fight over spending and confirmation of a number of outstanding presidential nominees. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has hinted that GOP-led filibusters of Obama administration nominees may prompt him to employ the so-called nuclear option to curtail Republican blockades on the Senate floor. And that ensuing battle could do permanent damage to bipartisan relations. (more…)
