In what Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill called a “shocking development” last night, liberal U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and her Senate Democrat bosses rashly used what is known as the “nuclear option” to suddenly kill a key Senate rule that protects the democratic rights of the minority party.
Politico reports that the power grab “threatens to further inflame partisan tensions and stymie legislative action,” while the Atlantic notes that it “may fundamentally diminish the powers of the minority party in the Senate,” and that “both liberals and conservatives are troubled by what may come of it.”
Notably, Politico also reports that “[t]he 51-48 vote was not decided until the final minutes as Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) switched to back Reid and then Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) immediately followed suit after animated conversations with Reid.” In other words, just as with her deciding 60th vote for ObamaCare, it appears McCaskill allowed her Washington party bosses to once again push her into putting their narrow partisan agenda ahead of the best interests of Missouri and the country.
“Last night’s vote is further proof that Claire McCaskill is willing to recklessly put her Washington Democrat bosses’ narrow partisan agenda ahead of the best interests of Missouri and the nation,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond. “It’s bad enough that McCaskill is a liberal who fights for reckless spending and job-killing tax hikes, but her deciding vote to permanently strip the minority party of fundamental rights is simply outrageous and goes against the interests of our democracy.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
“Shocking” Power-Grab By Senate Dems “Threatens To Further Inflame Partisan Tensions… Stymie Legislative Action,” “Could Be Replicated In The Future To Overhaul Bedrock Rules.”
“It’s known as the “nuclear option,” but just as with real nukes, the bomb is rarely dropped in battle. Reid did tonight.” (Karoun Demirjian, “Harry Reid changes arcane U.S. Senate rules to make a point,” The Las Vegas Sun, 10/6/11)
“In a shocking 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.” (Alexander Bolton, “Reid’s ‘Nuclear Option’ Changes Rules, Ends Repeat Filibusters,” The Hill, 10/6/11)
“…[T]he process employed by Democrats could be replicated in the future to overhaul bedrock rules like the filibuster. For that reason, both parties have tried to avoid employing such tactics to change the rules over the last several congressional sessions, including in a fierce 2005 battle that nearly limited the use of the filibuster.” (Manu Raju & Scott Wong, “Dems Change Rules; Senate In Chaos, Politico, 10/6/11)
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s move to suddenly overhaul a key Senate rule without warning infuriated Republicans and put an already bitterly divided chamber on edge as senators from both sides of the aisle traded angry accusations over whether the fight would fundamentally limit the rights of the minority party”. (Manu Raju & Scott Wong, “Dems Change Rules; Senate In Chaos, Politico, 10/6/11)
“… [U]nder the new procedure, senators can no longer move to waive the rules once a filibuster is defeated — a battle that threatens to further inflame partisan tensions and stymie legislative action at a time when frustration with Congress is at an all-time high.” (Manu Raju & Scott Wong, “Dems Change Rules; Senate In Chaos, Politico, 10/6/11)
“It was a precedent-setting night in the Senate Thursday evening and both liberals and conservatives are troubled by what may come of it.” (John Hudson, “A Night of Chaos in the Senate Worries Both Left and Right,” The Atlantic, 10/7/11)
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid overhauled a key Senate rule that may fundamentally diminish the powers of the minority party in the Senate.” (John Hudson, “A Night of Chaos in the Senate Worries Both Left and Right,” The Atlantic, 10/7/11)
And on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown this morning…
KELLY O’DONNELL: …And it really is important, because both sides say they revere the rules of the senate. Why is that so important? Because everybody likes to have a predictable set of rules to fight out these political battles. And what happened is, Harry Reid, Democrat in charge of the Senate, pulled a surprise move, got other Democrats to vote against the call of the referee, if you will, known as the Parliamentarian, to shut down Republicans, who did want to take a political vote, wanted to force the Senate to do what the President has asked, vote on his jobs bill. That’s not popular with Democrats. They’re already retooling it, putting in some different ways to pay for it, so they didn’t want to take that vote. That’s the backdrop of this. But the bigger issue going forward is, you just don’t see the Senate up and change its own rules. That’s really rankled people. And so, there were heated moments, in terms of the way the Senate behaves, when they get their kind of fuming moments, pacing on the floor, that really stands out, that’s unusual. So, if you think about this as – you know, you love sports analogies – so you know, you’re allowed to kind of run down the clock if you’re the minority party. You’re allowed to slow things down. People don’t like it, necessarily, but you’re allowed. Harry Reid decided to change those rules and there will be fallout for a lot of time to come.
CHUCK TODD: I was just going to say, the unintended consequence of this action, long term hit on the Senate.
KELLY O’DONNELL: Yes.
