Ending the Filibuster?

Senator Schumer has announced his intention to filibuster Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court.  This will trigger the Reid option where the Republicans will change the rules in much the way the Harry Reid did when the Democrats controlled the Senate and approve Gorsuch on a 52 to 48 vote.  Interestingly, Gorsuch was unanimously approved by the Senate for his current post on the Tenth Circuit.  Repeatedly, Gorsuch has said that his job is to apply the laws that Congress passed and Senator Schumer finds that to be a conservative ideology.

If McConnell has a spine (questionable), the Reid option will forever nix the filibuster on nominees.  As noted in a previous blog, I hold that nominees whose term will exceed that of the president who nominates them should meet a higher bar but those who leave with him should be approved by a simple majority.  Sadly, the parties don't trust each other enough to make that deal.

 

As the Senate has just become another House of Representatives who just have longer terms, the filibuster is obsolete.  Senators represent their party rather than their state government.  Where senators once viewed the state assembly and governor as their superiors, now they look down upon them as inferiors.  Rightly so under the current election scheme.  In fact, since senators are popularly elected, Democratic senators represent 177 million people while Republican senators only represent 143 million people.  The Independents (Bernie Sanders and Angus King) represent a million people but caucus with the Democrats.  In the 5 most populous states, Democrats outnumber Republicans by 7 to 3.  In the 5 least populous states, that reverses with Republicans having the 7 to 3 majority.

 

It has been a century since the 17th Amendment broke the Senate.  The traditions that had been established beforehand had kept the Senate from going off the rails immediately but those traditions have been chipped away.  The state governments can't keep them in check and the voters have little interest in doing so.  Repeal the 17th Amendment and money will flow back to the states and the federal government will soon busy itself with its enumerated powers.

 

In the meantime, it's time to continue the demolition of the filibuster that Senator Harry Reid started.  After ending it for nominations, it will start getting chipped away for legislation.  It's just a matter of time.