Category : Blogs

Sub Category : Politics

Just heard Sen. Mike Lee R-UT lay blame on the Democrats for originating the end of the filibuster rule by invoking the use of the so-called nuclear option, where a 60 vote total is no longer required and a simple one vote majority moves a vote forward. He referred to the November 2013 event where Sen. Harry Reid stopped the filibuster for filling judicial roles below the Supreme Coury level. 

Why did Reid feel this was necessary? It was because Republicans, who had taken leadership control of Congress in 2012, absolutely refused to fill any of the 68 open federal judgeships. Just flat out refused. I remember the Democrats calling out the Republicans for this historical level of judicial obstructionism to no avail. Never before in our history had so many federal judicial openings occured at the same time with no appointments gaining confirmation.

It is understandable why the Democrats had to eliminate the filibuster in this particular instance. This said, Reid later claimed he regretted doing it as it changes the characteristic underpinnings of how the Senate works. He hoped it would never happen again.

Now Sen. Mitch McConnell is set to invoke the elimination of the filibuster for a Supreme Court nomination. It is thought that doing this now will likely institutionalize this for all Senate voting going forward.

Historically, the use of the filibuster has favored the Republican party. It seems to me that this would be even more important to the Republicans in the future as the nation's demographics are trending towards the growth of minorities who traditionally lean more liberal. So there will likely be a time in the near future when the Democrats will be in the majority for an extended period of time. I bet the Republicans will then regret their using the nuclear option on the Gorsuch vote as all Senate votes going forward would now pass with a simple majority.

Whether having the 60 vote rule is a good thing or not is open for debate. I think on major issues like a Supreme Court vote, it has relevance. As Sen. Charles Schumer Dem-NY said, if a Supreme Court nominee can't get a partisan 60 votes, the nominee should be changed, not the voting process. This works, however, only if a vote actually occurs. The Republicans will have a vote of course, unlike the Democrats in 2013. So Lee's linkage of justifying the nuclear option now by blaming it on Reid's decision in 2013 rings hollow.