TO: Friends
FR: Jim Boulet, Jr. (703) 321-8818
DT: March 29, 2005 (revised April 4, 2005)
How Liberals Could Thrive in a Post-Nuclear-Option Senate
The so-called "nuclear option" seeks to allow a majority of 51 Senators to change the Senate rules regarding judicial filibusters.
But once such at precedent is established, any legislation which commands the support of 51 but not 60 Senators could provoke a similar request for a ruling that requirements for a supermajority are not "in order."
Any Senator could offer an amendment to a piece of legislation and then, at the end of his speech, raise a point of order that further debate or amendments would violate Senate rules.
Should the Chair rule against him, he could appeal the ruling of the chair. The Senate would be barred from conducting further business until it voted on his appeal. If a majority votes with the Senator, a final passage vote on the amendment in question would occur with no further amendments in order.
This scenario has already been described by Congressional Quarterly ("Senate Parliamentarian Rulings Could Complicate Attempts to Cut Savings") on April 1st:
There could be ways to get around an adverse ruling from [Senate parliamentarian] Frumin, but they would involve unusual steps. One option would be for the presiding senator to ignore the parliamentarian's advice, which would be a rare step but one Republicans are contemplating in the upcoming debate over the right to filibuster judicial nominations. A related option would be for the chair to accept Frumin's advice but then vote to overturn the ruling.Keep in mind that much of the Democratic "wish list" involves sweeping new legislation which will be heavily supported by the mainstream media. The Republican agenda, by contrast, tends to involve incremental changes to existing programs.
Issues of importance to liberals which command majority support in the current Senate and which would be potentially subject to the same point of order as the "nuclear option" include:
Minimum wage increase/Labor law "reform."
Hate crimes (extra penalties for bad thoughts)/Nondiscrimination against homosexuals in hiring.
Greenhouse gas reduction/global warming prevention.
Closing the so-called "gun show loophole" to prevent terrorism.