BREAKING: Reid Using “Nuclear Option” To Do Away With The Filibuster? UPDATE: Not The Filibuster Update 2: Reid Changes Senate Rules By Majority Vote
Drew M.
Ace of Spades HQ
10/6/2011
…The rule they are trying to change has to do with the ability to close off the option of offering amendments.
Reid’s maneuver works. The precedent has been set that Senate rules can be changed by majority vote.
This means the Senate rules can be changed by majority vote and the minority can’t offer amendments without majority approval.
What this is about: Reid didn’t want to let McConnell bring up Obama’s job plan and force Democrats to vote against it. Pass This Bill Now (unless it would be an embarrassing to Democrats).
So, the GOP wins the Senate in ’12, nukes the filibuster and then repeals ObamaCare?
Wow.
This is pretty crazy and it’s going to take some time to sort out.
Original Post:
It’s a little arcane and a lot inside baseball but something is going down in the Senate right now.
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….
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.
The maneuver is highly arcane but momentous. If a simple majority of the Senate votes to uphold Reid’s appeal, the Senate’s rules will have been changed by the unilateral action of one party…
…Not sure what triggered this. Updates as it becomes clear.
Vote is going on right now but even Senators are confused which way to vote on the party line.
This escalated quickly.
Read the entire post at Ace of Spades HQ.
Related: ‘Jobs Bill’ Destroys Federalism & Licenses Illegals
Update: Harry Reid Just Used A ‘Tactical Nuke’ To Rewrite Senate Rules And Block The GOP
In one of the most striking exchanges on the Senate floor in recent memory, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sparred for over an hour on arcane rules, as the normally-collegial body debated the Chinese currency bill.
Technically at issue were nine amendments offered on the bill, two of which Senate Democrats were unwilling to vote on — including the original version of President Barack Obama’s jobs bill that McConnell wanted to vote on knowing it would fail.
But the argument was about much more than the jobs bill or currency manipulation — but about the very culture of the nation’s greatest deliberative body…
…“America doesn’t need less debate. It needs more debate…I think we made a big mistake tonight. And as soon as we all kind of cool off and think about it over the weekend, I hope we’ll undo what we did tonight because it’s not in the best interest of this institution or the American people.”…
Update 2: In an email this morning Senator Jim DeMint writes:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) fundamentally weakened the United States Senate yesterday in a desperate attempt to block a vote on the President’s stimulus bill.
Using a simple majority vote, Reid used the “Nuclear Option” to change the rules of the Senate so senators cannot offer amendments. In the future, senators will only be able to modify legislation if Harry Reid agrees to it.
Harry Reid changed the rules of the Senate because Republicans planned to force a vote on President Obama’s stimulus plan. The plan is so unpopular that it was going to be defeated by Republicans and Democrats when it came up for a vote. This would have embarrassed the president so Reid and the Democrats just changed the longstanding rules of the Senate to block it. You can learn more at RedState.com.
The Senate is supposed to be the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body”. That means debating, amending, and voting on legislation — all things Harry Reid has sought to avoid during his tenure as Senate Majority Leader.
Folks, we’re teetering on tyranny…
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