So, this just happened. As the Senate was preparing to vote on final passage of the China currency legislation (cloture had already been invoked by a 62-38 vote), Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell got into a disagreement over the amendments that Republicans were seeking to add to the bill. When they could not resolve the issue, Reid invoked the so-called “nuclear option” to change the rules of the Senate:
In a shock development Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) triggered a rarely-used procedural option informally called the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules.
The surprise move stunned Republicans, who did not expect Reid to bring heavy artillery to what had appeared to have been a hum-drum legislative knife fight.
Reid appealed a ruling from the chair that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not need consent to force a vote on a motion to suspend the rules to consider an amendment after cloture has already been approved.
A subsequent vote to uphold the ruling failed 48 -51, effectively changes the rules of the Senate to make it all but impossible for the minority party to offers amendments to a piece of legislation after cloture has been invoked. McConnell planned to use the rule to force a vote on President Obama’s jobs bill by offering it as an amendment, but Reid objected.
“This is an outrage,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) amid a kerfuffle on the Senate floor.
“Am I 100 percent confident that I’m right? No. But I feel pretty comfortable with what we’ve done,” Reid said.
UPDATE: Philip Klein has a useful explainer here.
UPDATE II: Reid has postponed all votes until next week. Senators have adjourned for the Columbus Day weekend.
So this means that if Republican want to have a voice in any legislation they must do so before the cloture vote. Is that right?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGood! This precedent will come in handy when the Senate leadership changes hands in 2013 :-)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo - the plan is to ram this jobs bill down our throat the way they did Obamacare? And the minions marching are the street theater backdrop for this attempted power grab?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI don't think they can ram it without Boehner's help.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf by "ram this bill down our throat" you mean prevent the minority from thwarting the will of the majority...yeah. That's how the senate works.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat's not likely to work, now that Reid has gone "nuclear" don't you think the GOP-controlled House will retaliate by refusing to even consider a bill passed in this manner?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseActually, that's how DEMOCRACY works, I should say...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseReid will do ANYTHING to prevent that vote to be brought up for a vote.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNo, it's not an outrage. The filibuster rule is a blatantly unconstitutional outrage, and any momentary return to normal parliamentary procedure is a brief break from outrageousness.... no matter which "party" makes the break. The Senate's laws and actions during such a brief lucid interval are valid. The other 99% of the time they're illegitimate.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAwesome news.
The only way this country will ever get to fix crippling entitlements is if we end the filibuster. A political party only gets 60 seats in the Senate about once every 100 years, and the Democrats are obviously not serious about reforming anything.
Reid just gave a green light to Senate Republicans to scrap the filibuster after the 2012 election.
Now we'll have a GOP House, Senate, and White House to pass legislation. Hope it was worth it, Reid.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Dems had supermajority until last year, they failed to get anything of substance passed, including a budget. They have had their chance to lead and they have made a bad situation 10 times worse. Thankfully we only have to worry about them having control for another 13 months and I'm certain the GOP will control all 3 branches of Govt again.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDo you really think entitlements can be fixed with 50 votes?
Republicans aren't going to significantly change benefits for anyone at retirement or near retirement. That's why the Ryan plan waits 10 years.
Do you really think the Democrats won't simply repeal their entitlement "fixes" in a one sentence bill at some point over the following 10 years?
And even if Republicans do change benefits immediately, I still don't see how what the Republicans are currently proposing for their "fixes" won't just be repealed (and repealed pretty quickly). Changes that reduce SS or Medicare benefits are extroidinarily unpopular with the voters overall, and even moderately unpopular among Republican voters (let alone independents).
It seems the only way Republicans were ever going to get what they wanted on entitlements was to get 60 votes, pass their bills, and hope Democrats won't get 60 votes anytime soon after that (a reasonable bet if Republicans get 60 votes). If the threshold is lowered to 50, Democrats would obtain that much earlier.
Getting rid of the filibuster might help get rid of Obamacare, but I doubt it is going to help change entitlements when the changes are even close to as unpopular as they are now.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe main thing that the GOP should do is remember this when we retake the Senate in 2012.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBut they won't.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI agree.
That is called democracy. Please do remember this.
A message has finally been sent to Senator Mitch McConnell that there is a limit to how much bad behavior on his part will be tolerated.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow about someone explaining this in plain English? So the minority cannot offer amendments without the majority agreeing to allow them, right? This stuff is confusing even for people that follow this sort of thing.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis will never pass the House, of course. But to the degree Republicans can make arcane Senate rules resonate outside the Beltway, this should become an issue next year as to why it's essential to win the Senate.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd with that, the Senate became a redundant mess. This is terrible for the country.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJust imagine how bad Obamacare COULD have been without the filibuster. With 50 votes they would have done a lot more damage, including cap and trade, and a million other things. This should add a nice destabilizing whip saw effect to our already broken politics. Harry Reid is the biggest moron to ever be majority leader.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe flip side of that argument however is that it can also be undone a lot easier.
Also, think what could have been achieved when we the GOP had such lopsided majorities up until 2006.
If the Founding Fathers intended for the Senate to require 60 votes to pass legislation, they would have included it in the Constitution. Instead, they required only a simple majority with the Vice President being the tie breaking vote of 51 as President of the Senate.
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