Senate Democrats to force vote to end debate on Hagel nomination

[Faygo Kid]

Source: Washington Post

Senate Democrats are forcing a vote Thursday afternoon to end debate on the nomination of Chuck Hagel to serve as secretary of defense, bringing to a head a showdown over the nomination of the former Republican senator despite strong GOP objections.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced that the Senate would vote at 4:15 p.m., pushing ahead despite calls by several Republican senators to delay the vote until at least Feb. 25, when the Senate is scheduled to return from its President’s Day recess.

By calling the vote for Thursday afternoon, Reid is forcing Republicans to make a snap decision on whether to block President Obama’s choice to lead the Pentagon, which would be a historic first and a stinging rebuke of a former member of their conference. . .

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-republicans-have-the-votes-to-filibuster-on-hagel/2013/02/14/91afab0c-76c5-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html?hpid=z1

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This should get interesting . . .

[Purveyor]

1. I was just about the launch this one. I'll be watching on CSPAN. Thanks for posting. eom

[TwilightGardener]

2. He's not going to have the votes, so I don't know what happens when cloture fails--is that it for

Hagel, or can Harry try again after recess? They want another week to go fishing for dirt and weaken the President's and Dems' resolve on Hagel.

[Hard Assets]

4. Actually they have the votes.

60 to cloture (some R's will cross) and pass by a majority (party line vote)

[AndyTiedye]

17. No R's Will Cross

The votes aren't there.

[PoliticAverse]

18. Actually they didn't, 58-40-1.

For now, anyway...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/reid-presses-gop-hagel-schedules-friday-morning-vote-152603727--politics.html

[HooptieWagon]

6. Obama can recess appoint him.

Or the whiney children can stew over the weekend, and a cloture vote can be held later.

[SoCalMusicLover]

3. Awwwww.....Poor Poor Harry.....

Did the big bad republicans block your cloture? Why don't you get up on your stump and tell us how this is all their fault. How it's UNPRECEDENTED that they would filibuster this appointment. HOW DARE THEY!!

If only there were something you could have done to prevent this from occurring. Don't blame yourself, remember...it's all the republicans fault. Stick to what you do best....getting up and complaining about the other side filibustering.

[Hard Assets]

5. Or declare the reform dead, and invoke the nuclear option.

Republicans can go sit in the corner for a *VERY* long time.

[Purveyor]

7. Just what are the details of the 'nuclear option'? eom

[Hard Assets]

8. Okay. For your education purposes. Nuclear or constitutional option

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_option

In U.S. politics, the nuclear option, also called the constitutional option, is when the presiding officer of the United States Senate disregards a rule or precedent, for example by asking the Senate to end a filibuster by majority vote. The rules of the Senate specify that ending a filibuster requires the consent 60 senators (out of 100) for legislation, 67 for amending a Senate rule. An opinion written by Vice President Richard Nixon in 1957 concluded that the U.S. Constitution grants the presiding officer the authority to override Senate rules in this way.[1] (The U.S. vice president is also president of the Senate.) If a majority vote to uphold the presiding officer, his interpretation of the rules becomes a precedent. In practice, the issue rarely arises as presiding officers generally follow established precedent, as interpreted by the Senate's parliamentarian.

Republicans won't play nice, so Reid needs to stop playing nice with the Republicans and give them what they deserve - complete disregard for their policies or amendments, or their WHINES.

[Purveyor]

10. Thanks for that.

[SoCalMusicLover]

12. Yeah....Sure....That's Gonna Happen

Harry also has a bridge he wants to sell you.

[AAO]

13. He's been playing footsie with them for a long time...

Time to step up to the plate, Harry (although it's always been time).

You'd better start breaking some fucking rules and blow the place up... or maybe you should resign.

[Coolest Ranger]

9. can he still use the nuclear option to change the rules

[geek tragedy]

11. You can always use the nuclear option. That's why it's the nuclear option. nt

[AAO]

14. I love the smell of radioactive republicans in the morning!

[BumRushDaShow]

15. 58- 40.

Final vote delayed.

[rhett o rick]

16. Did all Democrats vote to end debate? And who didnt vote? nm

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Here is the roll call

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00021

All Dems and Is voted yay. The not voting was diaper boy. The "present" was Hatch. There were 4 Rs who voted yay.

[rhett o rick]

20. Thank you. nm

[davidpdx]

21. Diaper boy wasn't at the committee meeting either

Maybe he has been too busy with his "appointments".

[0rganism]

22. the longer this goes on, the more pissed I get at Reid

Next time a cloture vote for a nomination fails like this, I'm calling his office and asking his staff exactly what the fuck the esteemed senator thought Republicans would do with the procedural powers he decided to give them.

"We can't change the filibuster to a sensibly time-limited obstruction because, you know... Tradition!"

Not impressed.

[blue_heron]

23. blame the republicans

blaming Reid is like blaming a date-rape victim who expected to be treated honorably. they made a gentleman's agreement not to abuse it, and they can't help themselves. The Republicans are totally to blame here, trying to say it's not a filibuster. Again, to use the rape analogy, it's like them parsing words on what is a "legitimate filibuster". Filibuster is Filibuster. And I think what they are doing is unconstitutional, abusing their informed consent duties with ransom demands. I personally can't wait for Hagel to be confirmed, and laugh in their face when they want to expand or continue to fund DOD programs in their states.