Nebraska Senators Mike Johanns and Deb Fischer just used up all the Republicans’ debating time on the nomination of Elizabeth Wolford to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. They were complaining that Harry Reid has changed the rules to allow judges to be confirmed with a majority of the senators’ votes rather than having to attain a supermajority of sixty. They talked up Nebraska’s unique unicameral legislature which is officially non-partisan. They talked about their inability, in some instances, to offer amendments to bills. They took great offense at the idea that they and their colleagues are “obstructionists.”
The most interesting part of the hour was when Sen. Johanns recalled how he felt on Christmas Eve 2009 when the Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in the Senate. He complained that he felt like the Democrats were telling him to “sit down and shut up” and that his objections counted for nothing. He said that he felt the same way today as he watched the Democrats confirming one nominee after another.
Let me start with something simple. The Affordable Care Act was passed with 60 votes, meaning not only that it had a lot of support, but that it legitimately overcame a filibuster under the old rules and the rules as they exist today for legislation. Sen. Johanns might have disliked the sense of powerless he felt when ObamaCare passed, but he has no legitimate complaint about how is passed.
The second thing is that Johanns offered his critique during the debate over the nomination of a judge who was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a voice vote. What that means is that no one on the committee objected to her becoming a district judge. I’d like to point out that Ted Cruz and Mike Lee serve on the Judiciary Committee. Jeff Sessions and John Cornyn serve on the Judiciary Committee. None of them objected to Ms. Wolford’s nomination. But the entire Republican caucus (save Susan Collins of Maine) filibustered her cloture vote this morning and they are (right now) voting en masse against her confirmation. I can understand the cloture vote as a form of protest against the procedure used, but I cannot understand why they are voting against a judge that even Ted Cruz and Jeff Sessions approved of in committee.
It was almost touching to watch Sens. Fischer and Johanns lament their inability to obstruct the president’s nominations. They reminded me of a kid who gets his ball taken away after repeatedly being warned not to throw it in the house.
But they are the kids who will look you straight in the face and tell you that they never threw the ball in the house. Never mind that broken vase.
