Friday fun from 2005 via JWF in honor of Reid’s nuclear meltdown on the Senate floor last night. Two important differences between then and now. One: Biden was inveighing against the GOP’s proposal to end Senate filibusters of judicial appointments. Reid’s move last night isn’t similarly limited by subject matter; his proposal was to end the right of the minority party to offer post-cloture amendments — period. Two: Unlike the GOP six years ago, Reid actually pushed his proposal through. The standoff over judicial filibusters was resolved by the Gang of 14, but the standoff last night was resolved by Democrats voting via simple majority to overrule the Senate parliamentarian. Irony of ironies, ignoring the opinion of the parliamentarian is what has Biden worked up in the clip. And what opinion did he accuse the GOP of ignoring at the time? The idea that … you shouldn’t be able to change the rules of the Senate via simple majority. Nuance.
Ah well. Fifteen months from now, when the GOP is back in control of the Senate, it’ll be nice to see the filibuster and post-cloture minority amendments suddenly cool again on the left.
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