Does the Supreme Court Leak Upend Democrats’ Agenda?

News that the Supreme Court likely plans to overturn Roe v. Wade overwhelmed just about everything else in Washington today, and the uproar raises the question of whether the abortion rights issue will push everything else onto a back burner, further reducing the chances that Democrats will be able to pass more of their agenda before Congress turns its attention to the coming elections.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Tuesday that the Senate will vote to codify the right to abortion under federal law, though any such measure would likely be more about political messaging since it would lack the votes to pass an evenly divided Senate. "A vote on this legislation is not an abstract exercise, this is as urgent and real as it gets," Schumer said from the Senate floor. "We will vote to protect a woman's right to choose and every American is going to see which side every senator stands."

It’s clear, though, that the abortion rights issue has immediately moved front and center, months earlier than it would have had the draft opinion not leaked. What will that mean for other legislative priorities? “It is unclear how this will affect the final push in the run-up to the May 27 Memorial Day Recess for a rebranded reconciliation package, though it will clearly distract and inflame a Senate that is tackling a number of other issues not limited to Ukraine, Title 42 & a final COVID-19 package,” analyst Chris Krueger of the Cowen Washington Research Group wrote in a note to clients Tuesday.