From the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Reid now has the needed 51 votes to change the rules, said Sen. Michael Bennet (D., Colo.), a member of the Senate Democratic leadership. He said it was "a real possibility'' that Mr. Reid would call a vote on Thursday. "And if he does, he has the votes."
Oh please, please, please, please.
Pretty please with natural non-fructose sugar on top.
Apparently the proposed rule change would leave nominees to the Supreme Court unaffected, though (which is ridiculous, as the article goes on the suggest):
Democrats would still allow the minority party to demand 60 votes to advance Supreme Court nominations, which could protect their own leverage should the GOP take control of the Senate and White House. But Republicans warned that if Democrats change the rules, they can't expect Republicans to abide by any special carve-outs for the high court, if they gain the upper hand in the chamber.
If Mr. Reid "changes the rules for some judicial nominees, he is effectively changing them for all judicial nominees, including the Supreme Court," said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa...
It really seems as if Republicans have concluded it is somehow in there interest to have goaded Democrats in the Senate into doing this, or else either a) they just can't help themselves, or b) they really couldn't believe, even after Reid's dry-run in August, that he would dare.
I'm still going to believe it only when I see it happen. Or maybe not even until the first nominee is confirmed without a cloture vote and with less than sixty votes for confirmation.
5:50 PM PT: Good NPR article on where things are (or were) at:
"If the Democrats proceed to use the nuclear option in this way, it will be Obamacare II," Alexander said. "It will be the raw exercise of political power to say, 'We can do whatever we want to do.' "