#MoscowMitch has a nonsense piece on the filibuster in the @nytimes that again requires a history lesson. 1. The filibuster rule worked quite well from 1975, when it was changed, for thirty years or more. There were hiccups, of course. But there were few real filibusters.
They took place only when there were genuine issues of national import and a strongly felt minority position. There were hiccups, especially over judges, but even a major confrontation over Bush 43 appeals court judges resulted in a bipartisan solution and compromise.
The reality changed starkly with Barack Obama’s presidency, thanks to #MoscowMitch who began to use the filibuster and threat of filibuster as a weapon of mass obstruction, for routine bills and a slew of nominations that ended up with unanimous or near-unanimous confirmation
By requiring cloture votes on motions to proceed and on bills, and then insisting on using the full 30 hours of post-cloture debate, McConnell took up huge amounts of precious Senate floor time. This tactic was unprecedented.
He also, along with his willing colleagues, used filibusters to kill many Obama judicial nominees, including moderates, and misused the “blue slip” to kill judicial nominees, including many that had previously been supported by Republicans— all to keep slots open for a GOP prez.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for Harry Reid was when McConnell blocked any and every nominee for the DC Circuit, the most important of all circuit courts because it deals w separation of powers and regulatory matters. It had a conservative majority & multiple vacancies.
McConnell made clear to Reid that no nominee, no matter how qualified or moderate, would be confirmed. This had never, happened before. If Reid had not changed the rule, Obama’s presidency would have been hamstrung by the DC Circuit, and it would have a conservative supermajority
The same tactic, btw, was used to block qualified nominees to executive posts, not because of concerns about qualifications, but just to stick it to Obama and make it more difficult for his administration to govern. Rules matter, but so do norms, and #MoscowMitch blew them up.
McConnell wants people to believe that if Reid had not acted, he would not have changed the rules. What nonsense. One, he further blew up norms with Merrick Garland, in a despicable way. Two, the Democrats kept the blue slip in place despite its abuses by Republicans.
As soon as they could, Republicans in the Senate abandoned it to jam through more judges. If #MoscowMitch could be assured that radical right laws could get through the House and Senate and be enacted by eliminating the rest of the filibuster, of course he would do so.
His crocodile tears in the NYT are because he is scared to death that the Democrats will take the presidency and the Senate in 2020, and will try to undo the abuses he and Trump have been able to accomplish.
The good news? That he is concerned about the loss of the Senate!
I should add here, that McConnell also blew up the 30 hours of post-cloture debate when Democrats used it the way he had.
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