Senate Negotiations Over: Bring on the Filibusters

Negotiations between the Democrats and GOP to avert filibusters on President Bush’s judicial appointments have broken off. Read the story in the Washington Post (free registration required) here:

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced yesterday that he and Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) had broken off negotiations aimed at averting a showdown over President Bush’s judicial nominees, moving the Senate to the brink of a constitutional confrontation and a battle that holds peril for both political parties and the White House.

Reid, emerging from an afternoon meeting with Frist, declared that the two leaders had reached an impasse after weeks of talks. “Negotiations are over,” he said. “It’ll have to be decided on the Senate floor.”

The fact is there never were any serious negotiations.

Bring on the nominees (Priscilla Owens and Janice Rogers Brown) and if the Democrats filibuster, then change the Senate rules.

Frist did not speak with reporters but issued a statement. “Republicans believe in the regular order of fair up and down votes and letting the Senate decide yes or no on judicial confirmations free from procedural gimmicks like the filibuster,” he said, “and I hope Senator Reid and others know our door is always open to reasonable proposals for fair up or down votes for judicial nominees.”

There is still a chance that a confrontation can be avoided, if a bipartisan group of senators finds support for a compromise. The group, led by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), had deferred to Frist and Reid. But now it plans to intensify discussions in hopes of attracting half a dozen colleagues from each party to agree to a deal that would block any change in the Senate rules while allowing for filibusters only in extraordinary circumstances. The White House has been encouraging key Republican senators to support a change in the rules.

Don’t hold your breath!

Frist will put up the nominees tomorrow – I hope!

The confrontation has been brewing for weeks and could begin tomorrow, when Frist puts forward two judicial nominees, Janice Rogers Brown of California and Priscilla Owen of Texas. Democrats have vowed to filibuster both to prevent their confirmation.

At some point this week or next week, Frist is expected to seek a change in Senate rules that would bar the use of the filibuster for judicial nominations. That change has been dubbed the “nuclear option,” because of its potential to disrupt the Senate and shatter what little comity remains between Republicans and Democrats .

It usually takes 60 votes to shut off debate in the Senate, but the change contemplated by the Republicans would allow a simple majority to stop a filibuster on judicial nominations. Republicans say Democrats have abused the filibuster to block judges who enjoy majority support; Democrats argue that changing the rules represents a drastic curtailment of the rights of the minority in the Senate.

Read the rest of the article here.

H/T Huffington Post

It is like playing Poker – Let’s See the Cards Gentlemen!