Will Republicans Go Nuclear? [View All]

[BrklynLiberal]

Will Republicans Go Nuclear?

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005; Page A17

Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, called an urgent meeting last week with leaders of civil rights, civil liberties, environmental and women's groups. His message: The Senate faces a nuclear winter that could engulf them.

What emerged at that meeting was an order of battle that could mark American politics for years. Reid told the participants that he had learned from friendly Republican senators that Bill Frist, the majority leader, intended to push forward with what has come to be known as the "nuclear option," a fiddling with Senate rules that would block filibusters of judicial nominees.

And Reid warned the groups that the Republican effort to curb the rights of the Senate minority would not stop with judges. If Frist won on judges, Reid predicted, Republicans would be emboldened to roll other legislation through on narrow majority votes.

The battle over the filibuster seems like an insider's game. In fact it is a historic fight over the structure of U.S. government that could affect almost every issue in the public realm.

The details are clear enough: Democrats filibustered 10 of President Bush's first-term judicial nominees while confirming 204 others.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55429-2005Mar21.html