Analysis: The Republican Senate went nuclear again to speed up confirming conservative judges.
The Senate this week took another step toward majority rule and away from the old model of affording all senators, regardless of party, the right to speak and even block actions they oppose. Exploiting a parliamentary routine dubbed the “nuclear option,” all but two Senate Republicans voted against 46 Democrats to limit floor debate after the vote that brings the initial discussion of a nomination to a close.
The old rule allowed up to 30 hours of such “post-cloture” debate before a final vote on whether to confirm a president’s appointee. The new routine reduces that time to two hours, and it applies to the consideration of most executive branch and all district court nominees.
The Senate move is important. First, by shrinking the time for post-cloture debate, it limits the ability for senators to go on record with their views about controversial nominees and, potentially, to sway colleagues about the appointment. Second, the way Republicans went about changing the rules will make it easier for future majorities to strengthen the majority party’s power — which is new because the Senate has traditionally required supermajority support to get much done.
Here’s what happened and why.
1.The Senate bent the rules to change the rules
If Republicans had followed the Senate’s formal rules, they would have needed 60 votes to cut off debate. But Republicans failed to get those 60 required votes. So, they opted to “go nuclear” to get the change they sought: Republicans engineered a set of parliamentary steps that circumvented the chamber’s rules.
How did they do that? Instead of rewriting the rule, Republicans voted to set a new chamber precedent that reinterpreted the rule: From then on, “30” hours of debate would be interpreted to mean “two” hours of debate. And here’s the kicker. The Senate adopts precedents by a simple majority vote, not 60.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/analysis-the-republican-senate-went-nuclear-again-to-speed-up-confirming-conservative-judges/ar-BBVG8tC?li=BBnb7Kz
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