Posted on 03/07/2003 6:06:06 AM PST by Howlin
That doesn't mean Frist and GOP couldn't apply more pressure in various ways, but if they have a plan to do so, it isn't in the open.
I thought to myself, "Gee, for being a bunch of clueless idiots they sure seem to be successfully rolling the Republicans."
At the very least, Republicans should demand Democrats follow actual filibuster rules since Democrats have violated a long standing tradition of not blocking nominations. And, if they should find their misplaced calcium supplements they should lock out every Democrat lobbyist - starting with Mrs. Daschle.
Hmmmm. Estrada is not on the formal horizon. My guess is that the weekend shows will be all-Iraq.
I suppose, in light of the President's press conference last night, if the GOP ran out and yammered about Estrada, it (the GOP) would be perceived as out of touch with the present issue. In other words, laying low for a few days, or until we commence militaray action in Iraq, is probably the wiser course.
Couldn't the President use a letter stating their consent from a majority of Senators as his consent?
Why is an actual vote needed?
I would like to see President Bush have Estrada sworn in and when the minority challenge this, he can say that he has already received the advise and consent of the majority of the Senate. Then he could show them the letter that was signed by 55 Senators.
Even if there are Senate rules requiring a vote, they would have to sue , and I don't see how the court would view a minority filibuster as constitutional when it comes to naming nominees.
Is this a strategy that could possibly work?
Maybe we FL Freepers have overwhelmed him! Here's hoping!
I agree with your analogy. Should be interesting when they bring PBA to the floor! People will get a chance to see the maddog RATs really go into a full force attack. Wonder if they will filibuster that since they know the President will sign?
Even in that light, the mantra is the same "24/7 or wimps." It's, ummm, interesting to watch. I've been posting once, and then expressing "we'll just have to agree to disagree, I am resolute in my opinion that 24/7 is not a wise course at this time."
Not only would the GOP-leadership look bad if they started 24/7 today, they would now be backing off the 24/7 pressure if they had (somehow, nobody has explained to me how they do this, or how to follow through, but notwithstanding that) started continuous Senate sessions earlier this week.
Also, it doesn't solve the problem that the minority party will be able to hold up nominees. By simply swearing him in now, that pulls the rug out of the minority view.
I think a showdown would be good in the long run. It could possibly take some of the power away from a Senate that has become too beholden to a minority of ideologues.
While one would think that the rules place a heavier burden on the filibustering party, the rules of the senate actually place a heavier burden of the GOP, a burden that requires that the GOP have a great deal of discipline and fortitude.
The rules regarding filibuster are certainly onerous on the senator trying to maintain the floor and this onus would be problematic if only one senator was seeking to filibuster a bill back in the days before the advent of cloture petitions. However, when a group of 40 to 45 senators with the backing of its party leader seeks to filibuster, the pressure of a 24/7 situation can be evenly distributed on the shoulders of its members.
The party seeking to break the filibuster must do more than obtain 60 votes to invoke cloture, they must jump particular procedural hurdles during a 24/7 situation. In that 24/7 situation, the filibustering party need only keep one, at most two senators on the floor at a time during a filibuster.
However, the rules of the senate allow a senator to suggest the absense of a quorum at any time. Such a motion cannot be debated and is not subject to a vote. The presiding officer must direct the clerk to call the roll. If there are not at least fifty-one senators present after the roll call, the chair must immediately adjourn the senate until the next day. Adjournment is not subject to debate or vote, undermining the purpose behind a 24/7 status in the first place.
If the GOP wants to force the Dems into a 24/7 mode and avoid adjournment, it has to be committed to having all of its senators available in their offices or the cloakroom 24/7 to respond to the inevitable quorum call at 3:30 on a Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the Dems need only keep a rotating skeleton crew of senators available to hold the floor and to act as sentries if the GOP tries to make a parliamentary move.
As such, the rules actually place a heavier burden on the party seeking to break the filibuster than the party seeking to maintain it.
Given the rules and the onus placed on the party seeking to break a filibuster, it would be extremely difficult to keep 51 GOP senators at this level of preparedness for an extended period of time. At this point in time, the GOP only has 4 Dem votes in favor of cloture. And the point of going 24/7 is to bring at least 5 more on board. However, the GOP would only be able to maintain a 24/7 level of preparedness for several days at most.
If the GOP went 24/7 now as it appears stuck at 55, and it came up short of the 60 votes needed after going 24/7 for several days, it would have to beat a retreat, a move that could demoralize some of its forces, particularly the Dems bucking their party leadership, only strengthening the resolve and the position of the Dems and giving little motivation for Dems to cross the aisle.
For these reasons, the 24/7 tactic is only practical when the GOP is very close to getting the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture. I would say that such a move would be advisable only when the GOP has 58 or 59 votes in favor of cloture.
The second problem facing the GOP is timing. With the headlines focused on the imminent war in Iraq it would appear impossible to get the Estrada filibuster on the front burner of public attention, no matter how egregious the Democrats' tactics have been. By continuing to file for cloture, that could keep the matter ripe for exploitation until the war has abated and public attention and outrage could be directed more effectively to the nomination. In addition, once the war is successfully prosecuted, Bush will no doubt have a more envigorated storehouse of political capital.
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