--Updating With Obama Comments On Rule Change --Fifty-One Votes Can Clear Nominations That Formerly Required 60 Senate Votes --Filibuster of Legislation Still Allowed With Other Limitations --Yellen Nomination to Head Federal Reserve Now Appears Secure
By Denny Gulino and Brai Odion-Esene
WASHINGTON (MNI) - In a sweeping demolition of one of the U.S. Senate's most cherished and long-standing privileges - that of any senator to block action via filibuster - Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday made good on his threat to overcome Republican objections to Obama administration court and executive branch nominees.
An effort by Republicans to successfully appeal the ruling of the chair failed and the new rule took effect shortly before 1 p.m. ET.
Allowing the Democratic majority to overcome Republican opposition at will overturns more than two centuries of tradition and eliminates the need for Republican participation to reach the 60 votes that had been required to move nominations forward. The filibuster remains an option to block legislation.
Having defeated the Republican appeal, the Senate moved immediately to approve the first of President Barack Obama's three nominations to the federal D.C. Court of Appeals, with the other two expected to follow soon. Republicans had been blocking the nominations, saying the appeals court was already adequately staffed.
Now the ideologically split court, which is a key avenue of appeal for federal government-related cases like challenges of regulations, will be theoretically weighted toward a more liberal view, although any individual court decision can be a toss-up.
In a statement reacting to the rule change, Obama noted that "over the past five years, we've seen an unprecedented pattern of obstruction in Congress that's prevented too much of the American people's business from getting done."
"It's harmed our economy and it's been harmful to our democracy," he continued, although Obama acknowledged that neither party has been blameless for a tactic that has developed over the years.
"So I support the step a majority of Senators today took to change the way that Washington is doing business, more specifically the way the Senate does business," Obama said, adding that he is confident the bipartisan spirit in the Senate "will have a little more space now."
The Constitution protects the filibuster for only five categories of votes, including for any impeachment of the president and Supreme Court nominees. When making the threat of abolishment the filibuster in most cases twice earlier this year, Reid was able to wrangle temporary Republican agreement on small batches of blocked nominees.
Thursday's Reid ruling goes much further, potentially enfeebling Republican influence in the Senate should Reid decide to take another step and ending filibuster blockage of legislation. However Reid also has the power to rescind Thursday's ruling at any time, restoring Republican clout if agreement is reached on some key issues.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives can still block final passage of legislation, regardless of Senate action, in case other than nominations.
Most prominent among nominees who had been threatened to be blocked by Republican opponents is Janet Yellen, earlier in the day recommended by the Senate Banking Committee to be confirmed as the next Fed chairman by the full Senate. Although senatorial "holds" may apparently still be applied to nominations the ultimate power behind a hold, a filibuster, is no longer an option. It remains to be seen whether Reid will continue to honor such personal privilege holds.
Also at the top of the list of non-judicial nominees denied confirmation by Senate Republicans is Mel Watt, chosen by Obama to head the regulatory agency overseeing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. That prospect widened mortgage-backed securities spreads shortly after the Senate action.
That Senate vote was threatened to be blocked by Sen. Rand Paul and some other Republicans, not because of any complaint about Yellen's qualifications, but to get Senate consideration of unrelated matters. Paul wanted a vote on the legislation originated by his father Ron Paul when he was in the House, to allow congressional review of monetary policy.
Should Reid keep the anti-filibuster rule in effect, the Senate could begin work on a long list of lesser nominees stuck in the pipeline, some of them for many months.
"Thank you very much, Senator Reid, for your very courageous action," Sen. Tom Harkin said on the Senate floor after the anti-filibuster rule was upheld. "This is a bright day for the United States Senate and the country, to be able to move ahead." Harkin has been trying to change the filibuster rule since 1995.
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, before the vote, reminded Reid that if Republicans gain a Senate majority, the tables will be turned. "You may regret this a lot sooner than you think," he told Reid.
GOP Sen. Charles Grassley, took to the floor to oppose, after the fact, Reid's ruling. He said Republicans have only blocked five judicial nominees, compared to more than two dozen he said Democrats blocked during the Bush administration. At the same time, he said, the GOP has approved 209 other judicial nominees. Reid's action, Grassley said, was not in response to any "crisis."
The filibuster first became a possible way to block Senate floor votes in 1789 but was not exercised for the first time until 1837.
Early in the last century the Senate adopted a rule allowing for so-called cloture votes, at first requiring a two-thirds majority to halt a filibuster, later modified to three fifths.
Removing the power of the filibuster was just a powerful threat it came to be named the "nuclear option."
Currently 55 out of the 100 senators are Democrats.
A Senate aide told MNI that more votes on judicial nominees are possible later in the day.
--MNI Washington Bureau; tel: +1 202-371-2121; email: besene@mni-news.com