Posted on 02/22/2017 6:56:01 AM PST by Helicondelta
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) broke away from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on Tuesday night when she was asked about the Democratic strategy for handling President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.
"What is the Democratic strategy on this? There has been a lot made of this. Do you try to filibuster Gorsuch and risk the Republicans going for the so-called nuclear option, which would basically eliminate the filibuster now and forever?" NY1 reporter Bobby Cuza asked Gillibrand. "That seems like an equally bad outcome from the Democrats' perspective."
Gillibrand said she hopes her Democratic colleagues in the Senate will vote their "conscience" and that there will be an up-or-down vote on Gorsuch.
"I hope we do vote him down, but make no mistake, if we do hold the line with 60 votes, Mitch McConnell will change the rules the next day, so it will be Mitch McConnell's decision," Gillibrand said. "I do not have any hope that he will not change the rules the minute he doesn't get his way."
"It will likely be 51 votes regardless at any given time that any nominee is blocked, but I expect our colleagues to vote their conscience and to really look at his record and see if he's the kind of nominee that's worthy of our support," the New York Democrat added.
Gillibrand's position differs from that of Schumer, who has said Gorsuch should only be confirmed with a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
They’re finding out they have many many Trump supporters among their constituents.
WOW!!!!
She’s in fear of her seat in NEW YORK STATE???
This is YUGE!!!
Time to get things done....YOU THERE in Washington D.C.
Clock is ticking on the 2018 mid-terms. The Democrats need to get their act together by the end of this year.
Kirsten’s got to get some visibility. Either Chelsea Clinton or Caroline Kennedy might go after her seat in 2018.
The Republicans MUST invoke the nuclear option and get rid of the filibuster, because whether they do or don’t, the Democrats most certainly will do so when they next have control of the Senate.
The Democrats fired the first shot. To not return fire will be suicidal.
So the Republicans might as well have the advantage now.
I am ignorant of how the mechanics of this works.
The Dems lie.
Is the vote to confirm a simple majority?
If the GOP thinks they have a majority including Dem. votes to not need the option and go to a vote and the Dems. have lied and the vote is something like 54 to 46. Does that mean we have lost and it would then be too late for the option?
Why risk it. Just make it so! Simple majority and be done with it.
>>They’re finding out they have many many Trump supporters among their constituents.
Uhuh. Trying to push the vote before "conservative" sheeple have time to observe what the spiritual foundation for Gorsuch's worldview is, and isn't.
...Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch? He belongs to a far-left church that embraces marriage redefinition, gun control, and the theory of man-caused global warming.
He belongs to St. John's Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colo., the Episcopal diocese of Colorado confirmed on Wednesday. Church bulletins show that the judge has been an usher three times in recent months. His wife Louise frequently leads the intercessory prayer and reads the weekly Scripture at Sunday services, and his daughters assist in ceremonial duties during church services as acolytes.
The first word that St. John's uses to describe itself on its website and Facebook page is "inclusive," and the church is led by a female rector. On its website, the church encourages members to write letters to Congress asking for actions addressing climate change.
That's not all. Its website also calls for members to lobby their congressmen for more gun control.
Rev. Susan Springer has said she is pro-gay marriage and offers blessings to same-sex couples
The church's Rev. Ted Howard also signed a letter slamming the 'disrespectful rhetoric' directed at Islam as Trump floated a ban on Muslim immigrants[.] ...
Talk of ‘Sour Caroline’ Kennedy running (with apologies to the great Neil Diamond).
And she's saying what we already know...so in fact, this is no big deal. She just wasn't to waste time like they did with their stupid sleepovers....etc etc...
Does she want to be Governor of NY in the future??
The more vile, snarky and antagonistic rhetoric from democrat leadership, the more lifelong democrats will abandon that sinking ship. All the preaching dems did about transparency and coexisting peacefully is down the tubes with their everyday now violent and assaultive protesters representing precisely what the DNC truly stands for and apparently condones in 2017.
The real battle begins when she leaves the court and the only way that will happen is feet first. Please let it be soon.
“Either Chelsea Clinton or Caroline Kennedy might go after her seat in 2018.”
Yep. They are prepping Caroline Kennedy to run for the senate in 2018 and for the presidency in 2020.
They are describing her as Hillary without the baggage.
We in Montana are watching Jon Tester (D), who has a history of voting 95% Obama liberal until the year before his election, when he goes all-mouth and no-cattle conservative for the campaign. Jon, watch yourself. We’re not letting you get away with triple and quadruple voting on the seven reservations this time and 150% to 200% victory margins. We will remember if you continue to pull this stuff.
Typical Lib...rewriting history. Reid changed the rule and the Democrats own that.
Silly Gilly has only air in her head.
Senate Rule #19 has already been used to shut down Fauxahauntis.
It will be used to pass Gorsich with a simple majority.
How: The Senate, via Rule #19, allows Senators only to speak twice during a ‘Legislative Day’ (in the 60’s one Legislative Day lasted from January into June).
Once each (Democrat) Senator has spoken twice they cannot speak again and there is NO cloture - just a simple majority vote will ensue.
All is well!
What's driving this is the Democrats' recognition that they have a fundamental problem in the U.S. Senate that isn't going to change for a while. Even if you go back to the 2012 election, you'll see that Barack Obama only won 26 states in an effective landslide over Mitt Romney. In 2016, Hillary Clinton only won 20 states. And in the Senate, the Democrats only picked up two seats in an election cycle where the Republicans were defending 24 incumbent seats compared to only 10 for the Democrats.
What this means is that the Democrats will have a hard time maintaining a Senate majority over the long term, and can only hope to block the GOP through Senate maneuvers like the cloture vote and filibuster process. What Gillebrand fears most is that they'll make a stand on a Supreme Court nominee who isn't very meaningful (i.e., he's replacing Scalia and won't shift the balance of the court), and end up having the "nuclear option" deployed by the Republicans ... thereby turning the Democrats into an irrelevant minority for a long time.
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