Quick explanation of what happened with the nuclear option vote today. It just means that for the Senate to perform its Constitutional duties of Advise and Consent, 51 votes are needed to approve lower court nominees rather than the 60 usually needed to end debate. (When I say debate, I really mean the threat of debate - no one is actually standing and debating rather just threatening that they could do it.) The filibuster is still available and cloture votes are still required for ALL legislation and to approve Supreme Court nominees. This is merely to fill the empty district and circuit court seats. Im still not sure how I feel about Reid taking this step, but I will provide two data points for you to chew on. Since 1949, cloture votes were invoked for only 20 executive branch nominees. But 16 of Mr. Obama’s executive branch nominees have been subject to cloture votes, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Richard Cordray, nominated to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and John Brennan, head of the CIA. The median number of days from nomination to confirmation for circuit court nominees confirmed during a President’s first term ranged from 28 days (Reagan) to 225.5 days (Obama). For district court nominees, the median time elapsed ranged from a low, again, of 28 days (Reagan) to 215 days (Obama).
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 22:13:04 +0000
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