Reid uses the nuclear option—or does he?
Word is that Harry Reid has invoked the so-called nuclear option, although to me it seems different (and less comprehensive in effect) than my previous understanding of how a nuclear option would work.
Allahpundit takes a stab at explaining; Reid’s move appears to be aimed at restricting a minority party’s attempt to offer amendments after cloture has already occurred. That’s what Philip Klein says, too.
So although everybody seems to be calling Reid’s gambit “shocking,” I’m not so very shocked. After all, Reid had originally planned to do far worse at the beginning of this Congress. The recent move is along the lines he’d promised but far less dramatic in its effects. That said, it still sets a bad precedent for minority party rights in the Senate—a precedent that could backfire on Reid and the Democrats if they lose control of the Senate after 2012. That’s why both parties have so far refrained form this type of action before; it can come back to haunt them later when the pendulum swings.
I agree that the rule Reid changed (allowing consideration of amendments following cloture) is not the same rule as what was under discussion (whether a cloture vote is required to move a confirmation vote forward) the last time the “nuclear option” was . However, if you look at the ‘nuclear option’ entry in Wiki, the procedure Reid used to change the rule (calling for a vote to override a point of order recognized by the President Pro Tempore) is the same. I think it’s refered to as the “nuclear option” since, as you stated, Senate rule changes require a 2/3 majority but a vote on a point of order requires only a simple majority even though it has the same effect via the principle of precedent.
That said, it still sets a bad precedent for minority party rights in the Senate–a precedent that could backfire on Reid and the Democrats if they lose control of the Senate after 2012.
As mentioned previously, I never cease to marvel at the Left’s failure to grasp that what goes around comes around. They think that the government should ensure “fairness” in public discourse, think that a state’s Electoral College votes should be allocated in proportion to the results in each Congressional district, and now this, in each case apparently not grasping that whatever they’re agitating for today could bite them in the butt later.
A case in point: MA’s law that an empty Senate seat should not be filled by an appointment by the Governor (at the time, a Republican, Romney I believe) , but rather by a special election. Hello, Senator Brown! Governor Patrick could only watch, as could I, except he probably wasn’t laughing, as I was.
It won’t backfire. The Rinos will never allow such rules to be enforced against their preferred party.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Reid now makes a point out of using this procedure whenever and wherever he can to simply run the Senate by majority rule, and enrage the Republicans as much as he can by doing it.
Why? Reid has just figuratively thrown the parachutes out of the Democratic plane. Many Democrats might sit out the next election because they want to teach their party a lesson, and, after all, how much can the Republicans do if the minority Democrats still have the filibuster? By changing the rules now, and rubbing them in the Republicans face, Reid can say, come election time, you Democrats better not stay home, because if you do the Republicans will certainly run the Senate under the same precedents and rules we just established, and you’ll be completely disenfranchised. He’s basically holding a gun to all the Democrats heads saying, “win the election, or you’re dead meat. Because of me, but you’re still dead meat. What are you going to do?”
It’s a desperation tactic.