Posted on 05/02/2017 10:02:22 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
President Donald Trump on Tuesday seemingly called for an end to the legislative filibuster in the Senate, frustrated that Republicans were unable to include his policy goals in a must-pass spending bill. He also suggested that a government shutdown in September might be “good” in order to accomplish more without interference from Democrats.
Senate Republicans responded by rejecting Trump swiftly and decisively.
"I'm not going to support a change in rules. The Founding Fathers set it up this way," said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who's been in Washington about three weeks longer than Trump. "It's worked for centuries. It can still work. We don't have a rule problem, we've got a people problem."
"He and I differ on that because without the filibuster this country would've been gone a long time ago," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the most senior GOP senator. "I'm gonna talk to him about it. I'll get him back on line."
~snip~
"I don't think the American people elected president Trump and Republican majorities in both houses to shut down the government. I think they expected us to govern. And that's what we're doing," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas).
~snip~
Trump suggested earlier this year that if Democrats blocked his Supreme Court nominee then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should gut the filibuster to approve his high court pick. That's exactly what happened.
McConnell, however, has vowed he would not similarly undo the 60-vote threshold for legislation. Sixty-one senators sent him a letter last month supporting its continuance.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
So, we’re going to leave Trump? What does that mean? Where will we go if we “leave”? Will we join Mad Maxine and demand he resign?
Not sure what the immediate reaction should be but I do feel it is time for the party of K Street whores to be gone. We need a party that is, “of the people, for the people.”
The money hungry tools of the lobby folks are not on the side of this country.
I don’t disagree with you on these points.
Maybe this is a way to give the Democrats a victory and in return they do not stand in the way of healthcare repeal and replace. If healthcare goes down, the democrats will be blamed. It’s their baby. Unless they appease their base with this win and pretend to put on a show of resistance to the new healthcare plan. It is then a win for both Trump (passing a healthcare bill) and Democrats (giving them something to beat him over the head with til the next election)! I find it hard to believe that both things happening the same week is merely coincidence. Like a lot of you, am just trying to make sense of this and this makes sense to me.
Learn about American history from those that teach it
Watch videos on american history, presented by university professors that teach it. completely Free.
What do voters have to do with it? The constitution is clear: “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings...” Furthermore, in no place does it say that votes shall be determined by a majority. The founders probably thought this was too obvious to specify, but it isn’t.
If the houses of Congress want to turn the most important decisions over to majority leaders, they may do so. If the House of Representatives wants to let votes be blocked by the majority of the majority instead of by the majority of members, it may do so. If the Senate wants to require 60 percent, it may do so. And there’s not a damn thing the voters can do about it short of pitchforks or even more unlikely, refusing to reelect incumbents. Voters can’t even reform with a constitutional amendment because amendments can only be initiated by Congress.
The Senate filibuster is covered by Wikipedia: Filibuster in the United States Senate. This is a shorter, opinionated interpretation.
The filibuster started as a perfectly reasonable Senate rule on stopping debate. Obviously, you want debate to cover the issues, but you don’t want a minority to debate forever to delay a vote. So a percentage of Senators (originally two thirds, now three fifths) could stop debate as a delaying tactic.
Senate Rule XXII allows any Senator, or a series of Senators, to speak as long as they wish on any topic until three-fifths of Senators bring debate to a close by invoking cloture. This used to mean that you actually had to speak until 60 percent told you to shut up, but in recent years you only have to threaten to talk. Since carrying out your threat means the end of all Senate business and hurts the majority more than the minority, the threat has become as effective as the real thing.
Thus, a reasonable rule to control debate became a delaying tactic which in turn became a super-majority requirement. Obviously there are numerous ways to revise the rule to eliminate the filibuster, but Senators don’t want to end it because everyone knows they will be in the minority at some point.
Filibusters not only stop legislation, they often make legislation worse and harder to amend or repeal. Take the Affordable Care Act. By threatening to vote against cloture, two or three conservative Democrats had great influence on the final bill. They killed features that the majority of Democrats favored. At the same time party discipline prevented any Republicans from offering to break the filibuster in exchange for including their proposals. Democrats had to compromise with their own party, but couldn’t compromise with the other party. Republicans have been talking about repealing Obamacare ever since, but the filibuster stands in their way. Even if Republicans won the presidency and a majority in both houses, they’d still need 60 votes in the Senate.
The Senate is broken by its own rules. You can’t blame this on Democrats because but the first filibuster crisis occurred in 2005 with a Republican majority. Republicans threatened to end the filibuster, but Republicans and Democrats eventually worked out a compromise.
In 2013 the Democratic majority ended the filibuster for executive and judicial nominees other than Supreme Court nominees. Republicans who condemned this move in the strongest terms at the time are not so sure now that they are the majority.
It remains to be seen whether Republicans will keep Democratic filibuster reforms. They might even eliminate the filibuster entirely. Their whole strategy of blaming the president for blocking their legislation is in danger because Democrats in the Senate will filibuster so that the President doesn’t have to veto.
Let’s hope that Republicans will end the filibuster for good. It may be good Democrats now and for the Senate in some ways, but it is bad for the country.
The argument for the filibuster is that it gives the minority some power so that it can’t be bulldozed by majority party leaders. But a better way of empowering the minority would be to give the minority power. For example, 40 percent of either house should be able to petition to override party leaders and committee chairs to force a vote on any issue.
What chance would that reform have? Zero. Party leaders control voting procedures in both houses, and they will never allow a vote to give up their power. This is bipartisan. The only way to change is for outsiders to impose fairness over the objections of the parties. That means a constitutional amendment, but things will have to get a lot worse than they are before we see that.
My idiot senator. The filibuster is not in the Constitution. It is a Senate rule, and the Constitution does allow Senate rules. The filibuster is designed to stop debate, not pursue it.
It's better to try to defund PP in a repeal and replace of Obamacare.
3 people wrote this?
Must take a village to cobble together a quorum of sufficient but, collective IQ’s to operate a keyboard...
If anyone thinks that taking government funding away from planned parenthood would stop abortion they are deranged.
PP is a rich organization and would function exactly the same without any government funding whatsoever.
It’s more simple then that .
Ryan owned. K street
Mitch’s owned by K street
That awful Rense Pruis is a plant for Ryan in the WH .
Ivanka and her hubby are giving bad advice as NY Dems .
This was a set up. and Trump has fallen for it .
It’s bad ,.
We are funding Ibama Muslim invasio in. the budget and nothing has been done.
Trump is toast .
there is no excuse for funding Muslim invaders .
That’s a good thought. I’d like to think you have a good point.
But the cynic in me says no. This is just business as usual in Washington. With the Dems and Repubs agreeing to keep things FUBAR as usual.
Seriously, I think Trump is correct on not fighting a fight (this budget deal) that he cannot win. He thinks he lost badly on TrumpCare?
Any veto he may have attempted - any shutdown he may have tried to concoct - would have been a colossal failure.
And all this talk about how he better do this or better do that - otherwise he will “lose his base” - IS CRAP!
I’m tired of hearing this.
His base is stuck with him. We’re being advised by so many FReepers that we’re going to “leave”? BS. Where are we going to go? (Not meaning to rant at you mar - just taking this time to rant at others....)
Besides - as Trump’s “base” - we should remember how fortunate we are. How truly lucky.
We have trump as prez - not Hillary. And Neil Gorsuch as a new Justice.
If for nothing else - this is reason enough to stick with Trump. As if we had a choice.
Veto and attack this disaster..
We are funding Obama Muslim refugee program .
Is he crazy .
The base is ticked off .
The WH is being flooded with pissed off base voters .
Veto and fight now .
No more Muslim invaders .
No more PP funds .
Where is the wall .
It’s Politco.
Slightly better than Huff Po, Slate or CNN.
Trump should not only veto this treason .
He should scream the parts of utter treasonous budget to the public .
Embarrass them all for the treason .
The fact the scum in congress will attack is what we want .
Ryan attacked Trump during the election .
It was great .
The more these Uniparty senators attack it shows our president taking on one scum .
There is no downside .
Anybody who is silly enough to actually believe that we can expect ANYTHING from this government, or this administration, is truly delusional. I gave up a long, long time ago. I have absolutely no hope or faith in Trump or anyone in DC. I sincerely hope I am proven wrong, but it has become eminently obvious that absolutely no one in Washington can be trusted!
“Dumber than a sack of hammers”
Dumber than Maxine Waters and that is saying a lot!!!
I guess. The crackheads Huff Po, Slate and CNN are so intellectually bankrupt they employ ghost writers for their vacuous trope...
The Republican Congress is making sure that 2018 is going to be a blood bath, for themselves. They are giving the base no reason whatsoever to support of vote for their two-timing rear ends.
The RINO’s would rather have the status-quo, lose and return to minority status than gut the Democrats beloved filibuster rules. The Republicans are so stupid it defies logic and common sense. They let their political enemies set all the rules, dutifully obey them to the letter and when their enemies do not they do nothing but whine a bit and accept it. They really are the stupid party.
Sadly they are all owned by K street and could care less as long there perks and fat consulting jobs are set for them after they lget defeated is just fine for them.
The Dems want to power to destroy this country they are the driven ones .
Unitary Gope just are fat cats cashing in for themselves and there pals .
Excellent post, thanks.
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