| Politico | - |
The
Senate approved a historic rules change on Thursday by eliminating the
use of the filibuster on all presidential nominees except those to the
U.S.
Senate goes for ‘nuclear option’
The Senate approved a historic rules change on Thursday by
eliminating the use of the filibuster on all presidential nominees
except those to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In doing so, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) invoked the long-threatened “nuclear option,” meaning he called for a vote to change the Senate rules by a simple majority vote. It passed, 52 to 48. Three Democrats voted against changing the rules — Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
Continue Reading
Both parties threatened to change the rules in recent years, but Reid said he felt compelled to finally pull the trigger after what he described as unprecedented use of the filibuster on Obama’s judicial picks — namely three blocked judges to the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It’s time to change the Senate before this institution becomes obsolete,” Reid said in a lengthy floor speech on Thursday morning.
The changes get rid of filibusters on most presidential nominees, but preserve the filibuster for Supreme Court picks and legislation. The Senate’s vote to push the button on the “nuclear option” is unprecedented and is likely to lead to a further erosion of the filibuster in the future.
To get the wheels in motion, Reid called up the nomination of Patricia Millett to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for another vote, one of three previously blocked judges in the last month, including Nina Pillard and Robert Wilkins.
(Also on POLITICO: Reid: GOP playing with fire on judges)
Searching to find a way to break the impasse, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for the Senate to adjourn for five hours to give some breathing room for a deal. That motion failed 46-54.
Underscoring the historic nature of Reid’s threat, nearly all 100 senators were seated at their desks in the chamber — a rare sight, particularly when the Senate opens in the morning for business.
McConnell was quick to criticize Reid’s plan, accusing Democrats of trying to divert attention from the embattled health care law that has been a drag on the party. McConnell said Democrats were cooking up a “fake fight over judges that aren’t even needed.”
“You’ll regret this and you might regret it even sooner than you might think,” McConnell warned.
And on the other end of the Capitol, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) charged that Reid is trying to distract the public away from the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.
(Earlier on POLITICO: Court nominees: Battleground for partisan politics)
“Sounds to me like Harry Reid is trying to change the subject,” he told reporters at his weekly news conference.“If I were taking all the incoming fire that he’s taken over Obamacare, I’d try to change the subject, too.”
Privately, Senate Democratic leaders insist they preferred confirmation of Obama’s nominees rather than a rules change. And lawmakers have been at this point before. But increasingly even longtime protectors of the Senate’s rules have been changing their tune, including Vice President Joe Biden, who said he supported Reid’s effort on Thursday morning.
The Senate’s new rules will also pave the path toward smoother confirmation for two more key Obama nominees: Janet Yellen to lead the Federal Reserve and Jeh Johnson to helm the Department of Homeland Security. Another nominee blocked by Republicans, Rep. Mel Watt’s pick to helm the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will likely benefit.
Republicans are publicly warning that the change would simply be a path to eliminating the filibuster on everything, even on legislation — which would mean when the GOP takes the majority, Democrats will regret pushing the nuke button.
“You always have to take it seriously. I just think it would be incredibly short-sighted,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip. “It just seems to be something they keep coming back to when [Democrats] don’t get their way.”
The Senate came to the brink of a more narrow rules change that would have affected only executive nominees this summer but longtime lawmakers like Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) were able to agree to help move a series of stalled nominations and avoid diluting the minority’s power.
This time around there hasn’t been as strong an effort to head off the rules change. McCain made an offer on Wednesday that Democrats found insufficient because it didn’t include all three judges; Reid has long said he won’t settle for less than filling out the 11-seat court’s three vacancies.
But not all Democrats have been wedded to a rules change, and some worked proactively to figure out if the “nuclear option” could be avoided. For instance, Pryor helped avoid the “nuclear option” in 2005 when Republicans were trying to change the rules to circumvent Democratic filibusters of George W. Bush’s judicial nominees.
In addition to Wilkins, Pillard and Millett, Republicans also blocked the elevation of Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a fourth D.C. Circuit nominee in March, Caitlin Halligan. A fifth nominee, Sri Srinivasan, was confirmed to the court unanimously in May.
Manu Raju contributed to this report.
end quote from:
In doing so, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) invoked the long-threatened “nuclear option,” meaning he called for a vote to change the Senate rules by a simple majority vote. It passed, 52 to 48. Three Democrats voted against changing the rules — Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
Continue Reading
The unprecedented rules change means that most of
President Barack Obama’s judicial and executive branch nominees no
longer need to clear a 60-vote threshold to reach the Senate floor and
get an up-or-down vote.
(PHOTOS: Harry Reid’s career)Both parties threatened to change the rules in recent years, but Reid said he felt compelled to finally pull the trigger after what he described as unprecedented use of the filibuster on Obama’s judicial picks — namely three blocked judges to the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It’s time to change the Senate before this institution becomes obsolete,” Reid said in a lengthy floor speech on Thursday morning.
The changes get rid of filibusters on most presidential nominees, but preserve the filibuster for Supreme Court picks and legislation. The Senate’s vote to push the button on the “nuclear option” is unprecedented and is likely to lead to a further erosion of the filibuster in the future.
To get the wheels in motion, Reid called up the nomination of Patricia Millett to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for another vote, one of three previously blocked judges in the last month, including Nina Pillard and Robert Wilkins.
(Also on POLITICO: Reid: GOP playing with fire on judges)
Searching to find a way to break the impasse, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for the Senate to adjourn for five hours to give some breathing room for a deal. That motion failed 46-54.
Underscoring the historic nature of Reid’s threat, nearly all 100 senators were seated at their desks in the chamber — a rare sight, particularly when the Senate opens in the morning for business.
McConnell was quick to criticize Reid’s plan, accusing Democrats of trying to divert attention from the embattled health care law that has been a drag on the party. McConnell said Democrats were cooking up a “fake fight over judges that aren’t even needed.”
“You’ll regret this and you might regret it even sooner than you might think,” McConnell warned.
And on the other end of the Capitol, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) charged that Reid is trying to distract the public away from the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.
(Earlier on POLITICO: Court nominees: Battleground for partisan politics)
“Sounds to me like Harry Reid is trying to change the subject,” he told reporters at his weekly news conference.“If I were taking all the incoming fire that he’s taken over Obamacare, I’d try to change the subject, too.”
Privately, Senate Democratic leaders insist they preferred confirmation of Obama’s nominees rather than a rules change. And lawmakers have been at this point before. But increasingly even longtime protectors of the Senate’s rules have been changing their tune, including Vice President Joe Biden, who said he supported Reid’s effort on Thursday morning.
The Senate’s new rules will also pave the path toward smoother confirmation for two more key Obama nominees: Janet Yellen to lead the Federal Reserve and Jeh Johnson to helm the Department of Homeland Security. Another nominee blocked by Republicans, Rep. Mel Watt’s pick to helm the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will likely benefit.
Republicans are publicly warning that the change would simply be a path to eliminating the filibuster on everything, even on legislation — which would mean when the GOP takes the majority, Democrats will regret pushing the nuke button.
“You always have to take it seriously. I just think it would be incredibly short-sighted,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Republican whip. “It just seems to be something they keep coming back to when [Democrats] don’t get their way.”
The Senate came to the brink of a more narrow rules change that would have affected only executive nominees this summer but longtime lawmakers like Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) were able to agree to help move a series of stalled nominations and avoid diluting the minority’s power.
This time around there hasn’t been as strong an effort to head off the rules change. McCain made an offer on Wednesday that Democrats found insufficient because it didn’t include all three judges; Reid has long said he won’t settle for less than filling out the 11-seat court’s three vacancies.
But not all Democrats have been wedded to a rules change, and some worked proactively to figure out if the “nuclear option” could be avoided. For instance, Pryor helped avoid the “nuclear option” in 2005 when Republicans were trying to change the rules to circumvent Democratic filibusters of George W. Bush’s judicial nominees.
In addition to Wilkins, Pillard and Millett, Republicans also blocked the elevation of Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a fourth D.C. Circuit nominee in March, Caitlin Halligan. A fifth nominee, Sri Srinivasan, was confirmed to the court unanimously in May.
Manu Raju contributed to this report.
end quote from:
No comments:
Post a Comment