Harry Reid fired a shot across the bow of the Republican blockade of almost every nomination President Obama makes. Senator Reid and Senate Democrats seem ready to finally stand up to Republicans gaming the rules to tie the Obama Administration up in knots and leave the Federal Judiciary teetering on the verge of a crisis.
Reid confident he has the votes to trigger nuclear option in Senate
By Alexander Bolton- 07/13/13 12:00 PM ET
After days of intense lobbying, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is confident he has enough votes to trigger the nuclear option to change the Senate’s rules.
This would clear the way for the Senate to confirm Obama’s most controversial nominees with simple majority votes, including Richard Cordray, the nominee to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and three picks for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
It’s called the nuclear option because it would cause a meltdown in bipartisan relations. Senate Republicans on Thursday threatened to shut the upper chamber down until next year’s election.
We need to remember Democrats being cowed by Republican threats is what got us into this predicament in the first place. Republicans don't want the Senate fixed.
Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) are two other swing votes, but Democratic leaders expect them to ultimately support Reid.
Reed has wavered back and forth in recent meetings with advocates pushing for Senate rules reform.”
If you signed a petition to fix our broken Senate you were among the voices pushing Reid to do the right thing. Thank you. But we haven't won yet, we still have the big final push to make.
The Senate will start voting on Tuesday to end debate on seven of Obama’s nominees, beginning with Cordray and then moving to the three nominees to the labor relations board. A senior Democratic aide said seven votes are likely to occur, but some could be delayed until later in the week.
If Republicans block a final vote on Cordray or the labor-board picks, Reid could make a motion to reconsider the vote to end debate on their nominations later in the week. That would give him an opportunity to trigger the nuclear option on Thursday, after procedural time to consider the other nominees has elapsed.
Reid has several procedural options for invoking the nuclear option. As of Friday, he had not decided which one to use, according to an aide.
So now the ball is in the Republicans' court. If they continue to act in bad faith on the President's nominations Reid and the Democrats are ready to end their obstructions by changing the rules on nominations that the GOP has cynically abused for political retribution.
Will Democrats have the will to hold obstructionist Republicans' feet to the fire? They will if we hold our Senators' feet to the fire. You know what to do.