While on MSNBC yesterday, Sen. Dick Durbin told Chuck Todd, “I think we’re learning on our lesson” when the Harry Reid changed the filibuster rules in 2013:
"I think we're learning our lesson" – @SenatorDurbin on filibuster change to @chucktodd.
GOP Senate changed it for SCOTUS nominees last year after Dems ditched it for all but SCOTUS in '13
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) September 25, 2018
Freaking hilarious.
Also of note, if Dems didn’t filibuster Neil Gorsuch in 2017, they’d still have the ability to filibuster Judge Kavanaugh now:
One of the great what-ifs: what if 5 more Dems voted to advance Gorsuch nomination last year – not final confirmation but cloture. GOP would have had to wait to change the 60-vote threshold now and it'd be a much different discussion around Kavanaugh
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) September 25, 2018
Although former Reid staffer Adam Jentleson disagrees with Durbin’s take:
With enormous respect for the great Senator Durbin, I want to offer a few thoughts here.
Tl;dr there is a 100% chance McConnell would have gone nuclear immediately.
It’s important to remember that McConnell could use any nominee to go nuclear on all nominees, including SCOTUS. https://t.co/V85HH8eeUe
— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) September 26, 2018
If the 60 vote threshold existed in Jan 2017, Dems would surely have filibustered Trump nominees. All McConnell would’ve had to do is pick one nom and use that person as a hook to go nuclear on all noms.
Any nom would do- judicial, cabinet, anyone requiring Senate confirmation.
— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) September 26, 2018
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The fact that the 60 vote threshold continued to exist for SCOTUS but not other noms is a quirk of the fact that when we went nuclear in 2013, we excluded SCOTUS.
There’s no reason McConnell would have to exclude SCOTUS and he’d have every reason in the world not to.
— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) September 26, 2018
Going nuclear allowed us to confirm more Obama nominees, including federal judges, than we would’ve otherwise.
If you think McConnell reshaping the judiciary is a bad thing, consider how much worse it would be if there were even more vacancies for him to fill than there are now.
— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) September 26, 2018
But why would McConnell go nuclear if Reid hadn’t gone nuclear? This just doesn’t make sense:
In sum, if Dems hadn’t gone nuclear, McConnell would’ve stood on the floor in Jan 2017 with far more judicial vacancies to fill, and all he would have had to do was find one sympathetic nominee (for *any* position) to use as a hook to go nuclear on all nominees, including SCOTUS.
— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) September 26, 2018
I really can’t overstate how much I love and respect Senator Durbin. You will not find a more genuine, down-to-Earth, true blue progressive in the Senate. He has been a hugely impactful champion on so many issues we care about. But I wanted to offer an alternate view here.
— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) September 26, 2018
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Related:
WOMP WOMP: David Frum trips SPECTACULARLY over Feinstein, Durbin, and Schumer in RUSH to paint GOP as 'complicit' https://t.co/u8MHYY64PE
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 17, 2018
SHOCKA! Sen. Dicky Durbin just accidentally proved timing on Christine Blasey Ford's accusations IS absolutely political https://t.co/PVZlCsliMP
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 17, 2018
BOOM goes the dynamite! Juanita Broaddrick REKT Dick Durbin for using #MeToo to smear Kavanaugh https://t.co/oUJXt6DKsI
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 16, 2018
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