I think Greg Sargent nails his analysis of state of the nuclear option. The only thing I have to add is that, in doing this this way, Harry Reid is not bluffing. He may not be sure what cards are in his hand, but he is going ahead as if he has a straight flush. He’s betting that if the Republicans block any of his confirmation votes that he will have 50 votes to change the rules. He may not have the votes, but he (and we) will find out shortly unless the GOP backs down.
But, again, so far this is only for executive positions, not for judicial ones. While I consider that a big mistake, it is apparent that the votes aren’t there in the Democratic caucus to support such a bold move. Too bad.
I’d dearly like to see a Senate Democrat’s worldview one of these days. I gather it must be something like that of a pig, fairly intelligent as these things go, but utterly at odds with my current perspective.
“We’re going to file cloture on a bunch of nominations, and those votes will occur next week when we schedule them,” Reid said, adding later that if no movement occurred on them, “we know what’s going to happen.”
Four or five of your caucus members wimp out, and you make an annoyed, disappointed statement on the floor?
I have a feeling they won’t wimp out–they have a lot to lose. And, Reid has time to turn the screws on the judicial nominations if necessary. Doing it piece by piece makes some sense because it allows multiple chances to highlight the GOP obstructionism and the breaking of their word while making the Democrats look progressively more bad ass as the midterms approach.
BTW Joe, I got married in Westford (since my wife is from Boston area) and my family stayed in Lowell, which was awesome. Also, enjoy your commentary.
Thanks.
If you’re still in the area, the country’s largest free folk festival is happening here the last weekend in July.
http://www.lowellfolkfestival.org/performers.html
Last year, they had a DC Go-go band.
I don’t think going for the filibustering of executive appointments is a big mistake. That until recently was mainly a courtesy vote to the President unless there were serious problems. It is here more than anywhere else that the GOP caucus has abused the prior internal Senate contract.
Of course, it is very interesting that Reid is clearing the way on this right before the Comey vote.
The judicial appointments used to require weigh-in by the American Bar Association–until that Association got partisanized and decided to punt on recommendations. I’m not sure that was a good idea of vetting anyway.
There needs to be a way of the vetting of nominees to actually be weighed on their merits without the team-sport partisanship that has been going on since the Gigrich “take no prisoners” era, the source of McConnell’s tactical philosophy. And for that to actually affect whether the nominee is confirmed.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’ll be cheering all the way..
but, I’ll have to see it first
The idea that keeping judicial filibuster is to Democratic advantage is pure nonsense. If by some tragic circumstance a Republican wins the presidency in the next couple cycles, we can be sure their first concern will be to pack the courts with movement conservatives, and if democrats stand in the way, senate comity can go screw. As it stands, letting a mass of court vacancies fester for years, while conservative majorities engage in wholesale rewrites of federal law, is simply unilateral disarmament. Ending the filibuster isn’t “going nuclear”. It’s taking a small step towards ending what is already a “nuclear” war.
I almost couldn’t get myself to finish reading your comment because it was so depressingly true. I’m glad I hung in there for the rest because – depressing as it all is – this is the best summary I’ve seen.
Once Reid pulls the trigger, he might as well not bother filing a single judicial approval, because it ain’t gonna happen. He needs to get regular order on this. That moron Enzi from Wyoming was whining that we didn’t need to fill the DC Circuit seat. What an idiot. Under Bush, it was judicial emergencies all the time, and now it’s sit on our hands. Obama has been a massive failure here. Repukes cram highly conservative nominees through, and Obama can’t be bothered.
I have an idea Harry. Why not force a 51-vote rules vote on eliminating the cloture vote notification requirement?
Oh, would that test your caucus, instead of stringing out the fundraising email drive?
Then if that passed, you could force the 51-vote rule on cloture.
See, that isn’t so difficult.
Why not force a 51-vote rules vote on eliminating the cloture vote notification requirement?
If he doesn’t have the votes, or might not have the votes, holding a vote and losing it makes it impossible to bluff. If this latest standoff is Reid trying to get something through a bluff, the last thing he wants to do is lose a vote.
This isn’t about clever parliamentary tricks. He’s either got the votes or he doesn’t.
Lucy ain’t got the votes.
McConnell can read this tell.
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