Senate Republicans Find Their Manhood
Tuesday, April 26th, 2005It seems that Senator Frist has finally sounded off like he has a pair:
Reacting to a Democratic offer in the fight over filibusters, Republican leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he isn’t interested in any deal that fails to ensure that the Senate votes on confirmation for all of President Bush’s judicial nominees.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid had been quietly talking with Frist about confirming at least two of Bush’s blocked nominees from Michigan in exchange for withdrawing a third nominee. This would have been part of a compromise that would have the GOP back away from a showdown over changing Senate rules to prevent Democrats from using the filibuster to block Bush’s nominees.
But Frist, in a rare news conference conducted on the Senate floor, said he would not accept any deal that keeps his Republican majority from confirming judicial nominees that have been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“My goal is to have fair up and down votes. Are we going to shift from that principle? The answer to that is no,” Frist said.
Hopefully this means that the Senate Republicans will deploy the “Constitutional (Nuclear) Option” and remind the Democrats that they are the minority party and they are no longer in control of what happens in Congress.
That means he and Reid are still at deadlock, because Democrats have said they would not accept any deals that would permanently ban them from blocking Bush’s nominees to the Supreme Court or the federal appellate courts, the top two tiers of the judicial system.
“As part of any resolution, the nuclear option must be off the table,” said Reid, referring to the GOP threat to change the filibuster rules.
This quote is a perfect example of why Senate Republicans have had trouble in getting anything done. They are allowing Senate Democrats to act like they are still in charge. I can’t believe that Frist hasn’t slapped Reid down for this statement. Reid and the Democrats should in no way be allowed to dictate terms on this, or any other, issue.
In an ideal world, Frist would call a news conference this afternoon and simply announce that the Senate will hold a vote on the rule change that will eliminate the filibuster on judicial nominees. Then, early the next morning, the vote would be held, the rule changed, and then hearings on President Bush’s judicial nominees would commence immediately. Of course, the Democrats could always do what they have been threatening to do, which is shut down the Senate. I say, let them do it. The American people are smart enough to know who is doing what and why nothing is getting done, and will exact their revenge in the next Senatorial election. This will add to the Republicans’ majority and hopefully prevent any of this nonsense from happening in the future.
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