On Thursday, 225 years of Senate tradition was cast aside by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) when he invoked the so-called “nuclear option” and eliminated filibusters against most presidential nominations. “The American people believe Congress is broken. The American people believe the Senate is broken. And I believe they are right,” Reid said Thursday on the Senate floor. “The need for change is so very, very obvious.” What’s just as obvious is the primary motive behind this effort: to tilt an evenly-divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decidedly to the left.
The historic rule change was passed by a vote of 52-48, with three Democrats, Sens. Mark Pryor (D-AK), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Carl Levin (D-MI), opposing the alteration. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was incensed, not only by the change itself, but the fact that a simple majority of 51 votes was used to change the rule itself, rather than a supermajority of 60 votes that normally applies to Senate rule changes. After accusing Democrats of a power grab, McConnell suggested they will regret their decision when Republicans regain control of the chamber. “We’re not interested in having a gun put to our head any longer,” McConnell said addressing his colleagues form the Senate floor. “Some of us have been around here long enough to know that the shoe is sometimes on the other foot.” Addressing Democrats directly he predicted that they will regret their decision “a lot sooner than you think.”
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/reid-goes-nuclear/
SENATE ROLL CALL:
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 1st Session
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Question: On the Decision of the Chair (Shall the Decision of the Chair Stand as the Judgment of the Senate? (McConnell Appeal) )
Vote Number:
243
Vote Date:
November 21, 2013, 12:35 PM
Required For Majority:
1/2
Vote Result:
Decision of Chair Sustained
Nomination Number:
PN527
Nomination Description:
Patricia Ann Millett, of Virginia, to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit
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