Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said Wednesday that it was high time the Senate scrapped the filibuster rule for executive branch and judicial nominations.
“When you leave people hanging for years in some cases with their nominations, I think it’s just unfair,” Daschle said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” “And it becomes harder and harder to recruit good, quality people. So I think at this point, regardless of who’s president, Republican or Democrat, I think the time has come.”
Current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pulled the trigger on the so-called “nuclear option” last month, after Senate Republicans consecutively filibustered three of Obama’s nominees to the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Certainly Senator Reid and the majority recognize that the time has come for us to end the abuse that has now been occurring with regard to nominations in particular. It goes on,” Daschle said. “We’ve seen a record number of filibusters and cloture votes over the course of the last several years. But I think the key is finding ways with which to ensure that we can move forward, and nominations were a good beginning.”
