Confirm Gorsuch with 51

The Federalist ^ | 3/23/2017 | Grant Starrett

[jthomas21]

This morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced the Democrats will filibuster Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court. If you listen to the media, Republicans will have to use the "nuclear option" to confirm Gorsuch with 51 votes. But the media, as usual, misses the point: Harry Reid already pushed the button and the Senate is a nuclear wasteland.

Read more here: http://thefederalist.com/2017/03/23/time-republicans-embrace-nuclear-option-neil-gorsuch/

[Wonder Warthog]

"Where in the Constitution does it require 60 votes to confirm an appointment?"

In that section where it says that each house of Congress can make its own rules. At one time, the House also allowed "filibustering", but engaged its own "nuclear option" and eliminated it. The Senate has not......yet.

[Russ]

Recess appointments would be a good option for the 550+ appointments being held up in the senate by the Anti-American Party.

[Smittie]

Yeah, I’m surprised it’s lasted this long though.

[Arm_Bears]

Won’t a filibuster by the DIMS upset the precious moderates?

[Old Retired Army Guy]

The Senate needs to get rid of that archaic 60 vote rule (AKA: Byrd Rule) once and for all. That would include Justice appointments but also phase 3 of getting rid of/replacing Obamacare.

[keving]

Interesting as the phrase "nuclear" is actually a constitutional. Liberals are always trying to scare the non educated people. Including the media. 👍

[montag813]

No nuclear option is needed. Under Senate rules, they can exhaust all debate within 48 days and then force a vote.

[DaiHuy]

Don’t count on it. RBG will be tagged and bagged before she is off the court, i can’t speak to Kennedy’s situation.

[nikos1121]

McConnell should let this asshat filibuster, then do the nuclear thing.

MCCONNELL WOULD BE FOOLISH TO AGREE TO NOT GO NUCLEAR IN RETURN FOR SCHUMER AGREEING NOT TO FILIBUSTER.

Let Schumer pound sand.

Filibustering this nominee will make the democrats look stupid to the American public.

[nikos1121]

I agree, but I hope to hell the repubs don’t agree to NOT go nuclear now or in the future. The democrats have no leverage. None.

[bantam]

That would be AWESOME!!!!!

[GOPJ]

Yep, seems they’ve played us for fools for decades.

[rhubarbk]

We send them to get some friggin work done

From what I've seen over the past years, the only work they're accomplishing is investigating each other. THAT IS NOT WHAT WE HAD IN MIND!!!

[originalbuckeye]

My husband,a naturalized USA citizen born in Britain, doesn’t pay too much attention to our politics. But he recently asked ‘why are they acting this way? Can they just not accept the results of the election?’. Has any country ever experienced the immaturity of one of it’s major political parties, for this long?? WHAT AN INTERNATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT THE DEMOCRATS ARE TO THIS COUNTRY!

[GOPJ]

If we moved Congress into standard office buildings rather than the palatial setting they're in now - - maybe they'd realize IT'S A JOB NOT AN HISTORIC MONUMENT TO THEIR personal grandiosity.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Yeah, I’m surprised it’s lasted this long though."

Given the much slower turnover of membership in the Senate, and the fact that it has always seen itself as the "more traditional" branch of Congress, having it take longer seems a natural outcome.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

The procedure has a number of steps.

First, the question of Gorsuch’s nomination comes before the Senate.

They debate it. And debate it. If one side realizes that the other side has 51 votes, and does not want to lose, they filibuster. They keep the debate going as long as they can.

There is a rule in the Senate that if 60 of them vote to end the debate (a cloture vote) then the debate stops and the vote occurs. This is a Senate rule that the Senate can change.

At that point 51 votes are enough.

There are now three ways to get to 51 votes as I see it.

1. 60 Senators vote to end the debate and the actual vote on Gorsuch is held.

2. McConnell invokes the “nuclear option” doing away with the need for a 60-Senator cloture vote and the actual vote on Gorsuch is held.

3. The Dems are allowed to filibuster until they run out of steam, and then the actual vote on Goresuch is held.

[usconservative]

If the Democrats want to force the nuclear option now over Gorsuch, they’re going to have to deal with the fact that Trump will be able to get his SC nominees approved by a simple majority vote if Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Anthony Kennedy decide to step down in the next year or two.

Given Ruth Bader Ginsburg cannot stay awake in court and hasn't asked a single, coherent question in more than 10 years I don't understand why the Republican Controlled Senate doesn't impeach and remove her for failing to meet the requirements of a US Supreme Court Justice.

All she does anymore is occupy space, fall asleep and drool. Why leave her there? Use the nuclear option to remove and replace her.

[flaglady47]

When the Dems next get into power, and that will happen one day, the filibuster and nuclear option will be gone anyway. Beat them to it, while we have 4-8 years to get conservative policies locked in (that is if the Pubs ever stop fighting each other in a circular firing squad).

[gleeaikin]

Is state winner-take-all electors in the Constitution? Without that we would have Hillary as President.