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During his debate with Kamala Harris last week, former president Donald Trump said that “I have been a leader on fertilization” — and what he meant by that was in vitro fertilization treatment, otherwise known as IVF. The former president promised before the debate that either the federal government or insurance would cover the cost of IVF if he got a second term in the White House.
This all seemed a little convenient, considering it was Trump who put IVF in jeopardy. His confirmation of ultra-conservative judges to the Supreme Court led to the overturn of Roe v Wade with the Dobbs decision, which then in turn led a court in Alabama to declare embryos humans. If embryos are humans, of course, then IVF is untenable.
All of this caused a big political headache for Trump, which led to his knee-jerk policy proposal of Obamacare-style IVF for all. Needless to say, Republicans themselves — many of whom are evangelicals who don’t believe in IVF — were not so happy to hear about it.
This rift among members of the GOP has become especially problematic recently. So this week, Democrats decided to call Republicans’ bluff by having a vote on legislation to cover the cost of IVF.
“Just several weeks ago, Donald Trump said that he thought that we should have IVF for everyone,” Senator Tina Smith told The Independent. “He's all talk and no action, and these Republicans in the Senate follow his lead, but they never show up.”
Unsurprisingly, most Republicans opposed the motion. But what is more surprising is who did not vote at all: Trump’s running mate and man on the Hill, Senator JD Vance of Ohio.
“It seems like an important vote,” Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who had to split her time between the campaign trail and the Senate when she ran for president and is up for re-election this year, told The Independent.
The Republican vice presidential nominee is seemingly too busy spreading misinformation about Haitian migrants in his home state, all while telling Democrats to turn down the volume of their political rhetoric.
This is not the first time that Vance has skipped a vote on legislation that ostensibly matters to him. He’s previously said he supports an expanded child tax credit — but then when given a chance to vote on a bipartisan proposal that passed the House and would have included a child tax credit, he skipped the vote.
That move infuriated Ron Wyden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee chairman who is usually polite to everyone, but said in August, “Bottom line, the guy’s a phony.” That’s the closest thing to fighting words for senators.
Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, one of the architects of the expanded Child Tax Credit, had even harsher words.
“It’s kind of shocking, but never heard a word about it before he was on the campaign,” Bennet, who is also fairly mild-mannered, told The Independent.
As The Independent reported a few months ago, some Democratic senators tried to work with Vance during his brief tenure in the Senate, only to be frequently disappointed. Many accused him of playing partisan politics and undermining his colleagues to score electoral points.
“He has a job to do and I don’t think he’s doing it,” Smith told The Independent.
Of course, Vance might have good reason to avoid taking tough votes. One is that it would put the ostensible number-two in the GOP in the uncomfortable position of siding with the Democrats. The other is that many anti-abortion activists in his party don’t like IVF and see creating frozen embryos as antithetical to their ideals in the same way as abortion.
Vance might actually be making Democrats’ job easier in one area by not turning up, however.
Given the Republican control of the House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has prioritized confirming President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees. But a full Senate means it is harder to invoke cloture, which would end debate on judicial nominees and allow them to be confirmed. Doing so requires three-fifths of senators present. So far, Vance’s absence, along with those of other senators, made it easier for Democrats to confirm judges.
For their part, Republicans don’t seem bothered by Vance’s absence, even if it allows for Democrats to do that.
“He’s running for vice president,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told The Independent.
It was a point echoed by Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. “He's a vice presidential nominee,” he said, when asked about Vance’s absences. “I don't know if you knew that, but he is, and that requires him to be on the campaign trail.”
For their part, Democrats are pleased to be able to continue their confirmation spree.
“We have a narrow majority in the Senate,” Smith told The Independent. “I am really glad that we're getting as many judges confirmed as we can.”
