Even Juan Williams thinks the Senate Democrats need to go nuclear. Indeed, Harry Reid has set things up for a confrontation. He didn’t push the issue while the immigration reform bill was being debated because he didn’t want to pollute the well, but that only allowed nominations to pile up. We now have three DC Circuit judges, the EPA administrator, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Labor Secretary, members of the National Labor Relations Board, and several lower level nominees waiting in the queue for votes. The Republicans have indicated an unwillingness to confirm any of them.
The Republicans may relent on one or two in order to improve the way they are perceived by the public, but the Democrats want them all confirmed, and there are no good arguments against these nominees.
Reid has orchestrated this in a way to maximize the spectacle of obstruction. I hope he hasn’t taken all these steps only to back down one more time. But, he depends on the near-unanimity of his caucus if he is going to take action.
