We’re already living in a post-nuclear option world when it comes to presidential nominees. Has this kind of rule change ever happened before? And when Republicans are in charge, you can bet they’ll return the favor. Democrats won’t always control the Senate. The symbolism of “going nuclear” also portends a sort of mutually assured destruction in the future, to borrow another Cold War term. The idea is that it would “blow up” the Senate. Instead of being forced to get buy-in from the minority party (Republicans right now), the majority party (Democrats right now) would be able to confirm anybody for whom they could get a simple majority. By requiring only 51 votes, the entire character of the chamber would change. In the fancy language they speak on Capitol Hill, moving toward a vote is called “invoking cloture.”Īctually confirming the nominee or passing the legislation takes only 50 votes, but because of the procedural rules, it pretty much takes 60 to invoke cloture and get anything done these days. Senators view themselves as being part of the “world’s greatest deliberative body.” It’s a debatable point, but in order to protect the minority party and make sure nobody does anything without a full debate, Senate rules require that 60 of 100 senators agree to votes to move toward confirming a nominee or passing legislation. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Patrick Semansky/APīiden to amp up the pressure on the Senate to change filibuster rules for voting rights during Atlanta speech President Joe Biden speaks in support of changing the Senate filibuster rules that have stalled voting rights legislation, at Atlanta University Center Consortium, on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, Tuesday, Jan.
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