{"id":3950,"date":"2005-04-12T11:01:19","date_gmt":"2005-04-12T15:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/3950.html"},"modified":"2005-04-12T11:01:19","modified_gmt":"2005-04-12T15:01:19","slug":"after-all-the-huffing-and-puffing-frist-still-cant-blow-the-filibuster-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/after-all-the-huffing-and-puffing-frist-still-cant-blow-the-filibuster-down\/","title":{"rendered":"After all the huffing and puffing, Frist still can’t blow the filibuster down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some weeks, Republicans sound like they not only want to use the “nuclear option,” but have garnered the support to make it happen. Manuel Miranda, for example, is Bill Frist’s former top aide on judicial nominations and now heading up a Heritage Foundation coalition on ending Dem filibusters. He told the Boston Globe<\/a> the GOP majority had wrapped up 53 votes supporting the change. ”The question now is not if but when,” he said. Likewise, Rick Santorum was making similar assurances<\/a> to the GOP base just last week.<\/p>\n

In mid-March, the ultraconservative Washington Times reported<\/a> that Frist had not quite sown up the necessary votes to go “nuclear,” and the Wall Street Journal reported today<\/a> that Frist is still short of the votes he needs.<\/p>\n

The Senate appears headed for a high-stakes showdown over the “nuclear option,” a gambit to end the Democrats’ ability to filibuster judicial nominations. But Republicans have a problem. Even with a 55-seat majority, they currently don’t have the votes to change the rules. […]<\/p>\n

For now, though, the point may be moot as several Republicans — a mix of veterans and moderates — are resisting a hasty decision, leaving Mr. Frist two or three firm votes shy of his goal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Frist, in other words, is still bluffing.
\n
\nThe Republicans have 55 seats and need 50 votes. Dems, therefore, need six GOP defections to defeat the change and steer clear of the “nuclear” fallout. The WSJ report says the Dems are half-way there: three Republican senators — McCain, Chafee, and Snowe — are solidly opposed. At this point, finding another three “no” votes doesn’t sound too tough.<\/p>\n

Virginia’s John Warner indicated way back in January<\/a> that he’s uncomfortable with the change, and it doesn’t sound like three months of squabbling have changed his mind.<\/p>\n

“I tend to be a traditionalist, and the right of unlimited debate has been a hallmark of the Senate since its inception,” said Virginia Sen. John Warner, a 27-year veteran who has been researching previous political showdowns over court appointments including President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attempt to stack the Supreme Court. Mr. Warner says he hasn’t made up his mind on the issue, but said that he isn’t “persuaded that the seriousness of the problem merits such an extraordinary solution.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hagel and Collins are listed as “struggling with the issue,” and have suggested in recent months that they’re leaning away from making the change. New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu also indicated he agrees with Warner and is worried about “the precedents of changing the rules.” Meanwhile, Specter has indicated<\/a> he won’t go along with his party on this, and Voinovich is still considered undecided.<\/p>\n

Will three of these six end up voting against the “nuclear option”? Actually, so long as this many Republican senators are withholding support, Frist won’t even try. And if Frist can’t deliver on this after months of bravado and threats, he’ll have a whole new problem to worry about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some weeks, Republicans sound like they not only want to use the “nuclear option,” but have garnered the support to make it happen. Manuel Miranda, for example, is Bill Frist’s former top aide on judicial nominations and now heading up a Heritage Foundation coalition on ending Dem filibusters. He told the Boston Globe the GOP […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3950\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}