Harry Reid told his caucus in a Thursday meeting that he
"ate shit on nominees" during the Bush administration, allowing votes on some pretty awful nominees when he was leading the minority, instead of leading filibusters. He says he did it because he thought it was the right thing to do after Bush won re-election, and because of the bipartisan
Gang of 14 agreement. And look where we're at today.
Reid reportedly also began that caucus meeting Thursday "by apologizing to his colleagues for cutting bipartisan deals to avert the nuclear option, including at the beginning of this year."
But the siren song of a deal is always there, and Reid needs to resist it. He needs to remember—and remind his caucus continually—that they've been down that road too many times already, and it doesn't work. He needs to fight any attempt in his caucus to splinter off into some "gang" that promises it will be different this time, really.
It's time for Reid to finally do this. It's time for him to force Republicans to either let the Senate function again, or lose their power to block the president's nominees. Tell him so.
Please sign our petition telling Harry Reid that he'd better not be bluffing this time. Go nuclear and implement real filibuster reform if Republicans do not immediately confirm all of the nominees he filed on July 11.