The filibuster deal that Jeremy Peters is reporting in the New York Times looks wholly inadequate. The one upside is that it will apparently have significant Republican support. If all the Democrats agree to the rule changes, it will take at least 12 Republicans to reach the magic two-thirds needed to change the rules in a non-nuclear fashion. In theory, this preserves the prejudice against using a mere majority to upend the rules and makes future power moves of that type somewhat less likely. In reality, Reid bolstered the precedent for using the threat of the nuclear option to force the minority to make significant concessions.
Some of the details are still up in the air or unreported, but it looks like relatively little will change. The minority will no longer be able to filibuster a motion to proceed, which means that the majority can put any bill or nomination it wants on the floor and begin debate. However, the minority will still be able to prevent a vote by refusing to end debate. And they will still be able to do it without maintaining a cloture-proof presence in the Senate chamber.
The other reforms being discussed have merit, but they are all aimed at eliminating delays so that the Senate can move bills and nominees through the process faster. The primary problem, however, is not the dilatory practices of Mitch McConnell, but the inability to pass bills or confirm nominees in the first place.
There may be some further concessions on judges and perhaps other nominees in the final deal, and that would be an improvement, but this deal still makes it too easy to obstruct.
It’s nice to be able to start a debate but Harry Reid will still be wasting time if he devotes a bunch of time to debating something that won’t be voted on because of the filibuster. In reality, Majority Leaders are not going to have a bunch of pointless debates. Time is too precious.
What we need are rules that make it possible to filibuster, but so painful that it would only be done a few times a year, at most. It should be reserved for really big things, not be part of the everyday procedure of the Senate.
This deal doesn’t even come close to doing that. And it’s going to haunt Harry Reid for the next two years. just like his decision not to punish McConnell in 2011 has haunted him for the last years.
FAIL!
