Ezra Klein: Back in January, the best arguments against filibuster reform had nothing to do with filibuster reform. They had to do with the rest of the Democrats' agenda.
"Speaker John Boehner said the House wouldn't consider legislation from a post-filibuster reform Senate. It's very likely that a real filibuster reform fight would've destroyed the Democrats' agenda in the coming months -- think immigration and gun control."
But gun control died in the Senate. And it turned out that Boehner refused to consider the Senate's immigration legislation regardless of the filibuster's status. Now, with President Obama's political capital at a nadir, it's clear that there's no second-term agenda to protect in the near future, and they're may not even be a Democratic Senate majority after 2014.
So in pure "getting-things-done" terms, Democrats are faced with a choice: keep the filibuster and get nothing done. Change the filibuster and get nothing done aside from staffing the federal government and filling a huge number of judicial vacancies with lifetime appointments.
2. Democrats believe Republicans will shred the filibuster as soon as they get a chance. The main reason filibuster reform typically fails is that the majority party is scared of what will happen when the minority party gets into power. But Senate Democrats just watched Republicans mount a suicide mission to shut down the government. Their confidence that Republicans will treat the upper chamber's rules with reverence is low, to say the least.
This has led to some fatalistic thinking about filibuster reform: If Republicans are going to blow the filibuster up anyway, Democrats might as well take the first step and get some judges out of the deal.
3. Senate Democrats feel betrayed by Republicans. It's hard to overstate the pride senior Senate Democrats took in cutting their January deal with Senate Republicans. That kind of good-faith dealmaking, they said, was exactly how the Senate is supposed to work. Some even argued it was a sign that immigration reform, gun control, and other top Democratic initiatives might pass.
But then Republicans filibustered more judges and executive-branch nominees. And the pride top Democrats took in their deal to avert filibuster reform has turned to anger that Republicans made them look like trusting fools. "Just talked to at least 10 Senate Dems about filibuster reform, including some who previously opposed it," tweets the Huffington Post's Jennifer Bendery. "Just one opposes now."
Why Republicans are escalating a nuclear option crisis. "Republicans fully understand what they're doing, and are provoking a nuclear option crisis intentionally as a gamble on their own political fortunes...Republicans know they've given Reid practically no choice. And if he goes nuclear it might prove to be an even better outcome for them. It will provide them a plausible rationale for taking things a step further if they win back the Senate in 2014. Getting Democratic fingerprints on the nuclear rule-change precedent, will provide Republicans the cover they'll need to eliminate the filibuster altogether in January 2015. They aren't just testing the limits of Constitutional norms for fun. They're testing Reid's faith in the durability of his majority." Brian Beutler in Salon.
2. Democrats believe Republicans will shred the filibuster as soon as they get a chance. The main reason filibuster reform typically fails is that the majority party is scared of what will happen when the minority party gets into power. But Senate Democrats just watched Republicans mount a suicide mission to shut down the government. Their confidence that Republicans will treat the upper chamber's rules with reverence is low, to say the least.
This has led to some fatalistic thinking about filibuster reform: If Republicans are going to blow the filibuster up anyway, Democrats might as well take the first step and get some judges out of the deal.
3. Senate Democrats feel betrayed by Republicans. It's hard to overstate the pride senior Senate Democrats took in cutting their January deal with Senate Republicans. That kind of good-faith dealmaking, they said, was exactly how the Senate is supposed to work. Some even argued it was a sign that immigration reform, gun control, and other top Democratic initiatives might pass.
But then Republicans filibustered more judges and executive-branch nominees. And the pride top Democrats took in their deal to avert filibuster reform has turned to anger that Republicans made them look like trusting fools. "Just talked to at least 10 Senate Dems about filibuster reform, including some who previously opposed it," tweets the Huffington Post's Jennifer Bendery. "Just one opposes now."
Why Republicans are escalating a nuclear option crisis. "Republicans fully understand what they're doing, and are provoking a nuclear option crisis intentionally as a gamble on their own political fortunes...Republicans know they've given Reid practically no choice. And if he goes nuclear it might prove to be an even better outcome for them. It will provide them a plausible rationale for taking things a step further if they win back the Senate in 2014. Getting Democratic fingerprints on the nuclear rule-change precedent, will provide Republicans the cover they'll need to eliminate the filibuster altogether in January 2015. They aren't just testing the limits of Constitutional norms for fun. They're testing Reid's faith in the durability of his majority." Brian Beutler in Salon.
Wonkbook's Quotation of the Day: "Jeh, I think, is a good guy," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, explaining why he is holding up the nomination of Jeh Johnson to run the Department of Homeland Security. "It's nothing about him. I would support him."
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