Hatch says yes to open debate and amendment — but make Democrats live by Reid’s filibuster rule changes.
In Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, Orrin Hatch, of all people, and C. Boyden Gray (former WH counsel), penned an op-ed warning the Senate Republicans to NOT restore Harry Reid’s (gosh, I’m going to miss that weasel’s boyish charm) nuclear option. And, they make an excellent case for why. DLH
After Harry Reid, the GOP Shouldn’t Unilaterally Disarm (excerpts)
. . . In preparing to lead, Senate Republicans must not repeat the Democratic majority’s excesses. Instead, our party must now begin the hard work of repairing much institutional damage. After six years of disregarding its constitutional responsibilities, the Senate must once again become a forum for meaningful deliberation and must stand as a true check and balance against executive-branch overreach.
Specifically, the new Senate must begin by restoring the twin pillars of the institution’s deliberative character: full debate and an open amendment process . . .
But that fundamental goal . . . counsels against blindly returning to the prior status quo. Some bells cannot be unrung. Chief among these is Sen. Reid’s decision to invoke the “nuclear option” to strip minority senators of their ability to filibuster judicial nominees.
The nuclear option allowed President Obama and his allies to reshape the judicial branch dramatically to suit their far-left agenda . . .
To restore the rule now, after Mr. Obama has installed his controversial judges, would cement a partisan double standard: When Democrats control the White House and Senate, judicial nominations need only 50 votes; but when Republicans control both, judicial nominations require 60 votes, allowing Democratic minorities to block Republican nominations . . .
Indeed, Republican willingness to restore the old filibuster rule would only increase Democrats’ incentives to engage in further rule changes in the future. If Republicans refuse to hold Democrats to the new nominations rules they set for the Senate, Democrats will have no reason to fear that they may someday bear the costs of their own tactics . . .
