NUKE IS READY - McConnell says he has votes to bust Supreme Court filibuster

[HAPPY2BME]

WASHINGTON (April 5, 2017) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is claiming he has the votes necessary to thwart a planned Democratic filibuster of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, as a showdown draws near that could change the Senate, and the court, for generations.

McConnell intends to act unilaterally with the rest of the 51 other members of the GOP Senate conference and change the rules to eliminate the 60-vote threshold so that it would require just a simple majority to install Gorsuch on the high court bench, as well as all future Supreme Court nominees. Asked if he has the votes to do that, given misgivings voiced by many Republicans, McConnell answered simply "yes."

In fact, a Senate rules change does appear to be the lone route that Republicans have to put Gorsuch on the court. And despite claims from Schumer and others that Trump and Republicans could go back to the drawing board and come up with a more "mainstream" nominee, it seems unlikely that any nominee produced by Trump would win Democrats' approval.

On Tuesday evening McConnell officially filed a "cloture" motion, the procedural step designed to end debate on a nomination and bring it to a final vote. That started the clock toward a showdown on Thursday, when Democrats are expected to try to block Gorsuch, at which point Republicans would respond by enacting the rules change. The change is known on Capitol Hill as the "nuclear option" because of the potential repercussions for the Senate and the court.

For the Senate, it would mean that Supreme Court nominees in future could get on the court with no assent from the minority party, potentially leading to a more ideologically polarized court. More immediately, Gorsuch's confirmation to fill the vacancy on the court created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia 14 months ago would restore the conservative voting majority that existed before Scalia's death and could persist or grow for years to come.

https://www.onenewsnow.com/ap/politics/mcconnell-says-he-has-votes-to-bust-supreme-court-filibuster

[HAPPY2BME]

Legislative filibuster likely to survive death of its judicial cousin

The cascade of events has some senators worried that the legislative filibuster could be the next to go. Both parties claimed opposition to invoking the nuclear option to advance presidential nominees but ended up doing so anyway. But some Republicans say they will go no further.

"Once you go down this path it's awful easy just to keep going, and that is not a good thing," Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said in an interview with the Associated Press.

"The legislative filibuster is the long-held tradition of the Senate," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said. "There's a strong-held view on our side that the legislative filibuster matters. We've been in the minority — Republicans have — the last 50 years, 100 years, or maybe 10 years, more than they have."

Democrats obviously have no current interest in dismantling the legislative filibuster and claim they wouldn't do so if they are back in power in the Senate.

"No one on our side thinks we should touch it," Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said. "I hope it's going to be hands-off."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/legislative-filibuster-likely-to-survive-after-nuclear-option/article/2619485