Breaking news this afternoon is the Senate voting to eliminate filibusters that obstruct the confirmation of presidential appointments to the judiciary and the cabinet. In a partisan vote of 52-48, House Democrats effectively "nuked" the GOP and its obstructionist policy of using the filibuster to obstruct virtually all Obama nominations. Under previous Senate rules, filibusters could only be defeated by a Cloture Vote requiring a Super-Majority of 60 in the Senate to force a floor vote after an additional post-cloture 30 hours of debate.
Such action was undertaken by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) when Republicans effectively used the filibuster to block all Obama nominations to the bench, especially filing vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals located in Washington, D.C. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), facing his own primary fight from a Tea Party candidate, immediately slammed the partisan vote claiming that Americans will not stand for the move. Unfortunately, such drastic action would not have become necessary had the Republicans at least allowed an up or down vote on Obama's nominations to the Court. You may recall, then President George W. Bush expressed his exasperation with the obstructionist use of the filibuster by the then minority Democratic Party in the Senate.
Either way you look at it, a simple majority to confirm nominations to the judiciary and the cabinet makes more sense than allowing a minority to rule over the majority. You can bet now, both parties will be using today's move in the Senate as a centerpiece of their 2014 mid-term election campaigns for the Senate. Let the games officially begin...and let the nominees be confirmed! When President Bush's nominees were being blocked by Democratic Filibusters in the Senate, he said, "The Senate also has a duty - promptly consider each of these nominations on the Senate floor, discuss and debate their qualifications and then give them the up or down vote they deserve." (See http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/17/filibuster.fight/). What goes round surely comes around and around again!
Such action was undertaken by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) when Republicans effectively used the filibuster to block all Obama nominations to the bench, especially filing vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals located in Washington, D.C. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), facing his own primary fight from a Tea Party candidate, immediately slammed the partisan vote claiming that Americans will not stand for the move. Unfortunately, such drastic action would not have become necessary had the Republicans at least allowed an up or down vote on Obama's nominations to the Court. You may recall, then President George W. Bush expressed his exasperation with the obstructionist use of the filibuster by the then minority Democratic Party in the Senate.
Either way you look at it, a simple majority to confirm nominations to the judiciary and the cabinet makes more sense than allowing a minority to rule over the majority. You can bet now, both parties will be using today's move in the Senate as a centerpiece of their 2014 mid-term election campaigns for the Senate. Let the games officially begin...and let the nominees be confirmed! When President Bush's nominees were being blocked by Democratic Filibusters in the Senate, he said, "The Senate also has a duty - promptly consider each of these nominations on the Senate floor, discuss and debate their qualifications and then give them the up or down vote they deserve." (See http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/17/filibuster.fight/). What goes round surely comes around and around again!
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