The first rule of Democratic Fight Club should be: Don’t ever do what Mitch McConnell wants you to do. Today, we will see if Senate Democrats understand that rule yet. They have a rare opportunity to use their power to try to complicate McConnell’s plan to confirm Donald Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. 

Whether or not Democrats decide to use that power will tell us exactly how serious they are about blocking Trump’s court pick, making sure millions of Americans get some relief during the economic crisis, and winning crucial Senate races in the 2020 election. 

Here is the basic summary of what’s going on: Democrats have the power to potentially block McConnell’s attempt to maintain maximum control of Senate proceedings in order to keep their Supreme Court confirmation plan on track. That scheme was outlined in a McConnell press release yesterday saying he wants to secure a consent agreement to temporarily adjourn the Senate.