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Schumer on Senate Rule Changes
[Sean Rushton  05/18 02:16 PM]

The office of Sen. John Cornyn (R, Tex.) points out that though Sen. Schumer accused Senate Republicans of an activist reading of the Constitution in order to confirm activist judges, here’s what he said at a hearing on the issue of filibusters on judicial nominations:

Mr. KMIEC. . . . The real constitutional injury here . . . is the entrenchment of rules being imposed from one body onto the next.

Senator SCHUMER. Which could be changed by majority vote.

Mr. KMIEC. And should be changed by majority vote . . .

Senator SCHUMER. Right. That is why – I do not know why you say ‘imposed,’ because . . . the 51 Senators of the majority could propose changes in the rules.

[Judicial Nominations, Filibusters, and the Constitution: When a Majority is Denied Its Right to Consent, S. Hrg. 108-227, at 60 (2003).]