Chuck Hagel’s confirmation was never seriously in jeopardy – if it came down to a simple majority vote on the floor of the Senate. But with key Republicans now filibustering the nomination, we’re told Harry Reid lacks the 60 votes necessary to break the filibuster. It’s an unprecedented move by either party to impose a 60-vote threshold on a key cabinet position like secretary of defense. Reid took to the Senate floor to decry the move this morning, but the unspoken subtext of his speech was that he doesn’t have the votes to overcome the GOP filibuster. Hagel’s fate is not sealed yet, but as of right now, the votes are simply not there. So something will have to change.
TPM Reader SM asks just what serious consequences Harry Reid can possibly threaten …
If you guys will keep my name out of this (used to work in DC, probably will again), I have some thoughts and questions I wanted to share.
What am I missing on the Hagel filibuster? How has Harry Reid not screwed the pooch here?
White House on Hagel filibuster: “These delaying tactics are unconscionable, and they should end right away.”
Just listen: “So they want to ban high capacity magazines. Not for the security that surrounds the president, congress, Mayor Bloomberg, rock stars, CEOs and wealthy big shots. And the mad men, drug cartels and home-invading killers will still get them from the same black market that sells drugs, stolen cars and everything else that criminals buy. It’s just the rest of us, the law-abiding average people, who will have to defend our families with limited capacity magazines.” Watch.
As the laws of gravity required, Colbert takes on Rubio’s slurp heard round the world.
It looks an awful lot like Friday’s vote to break the GOP’s Chuck Hagel filibuster will fall short, leaving his nomination in limbo while the Senate recesses for President’s Day.
If that’s how things shake out, you’ll hear a lot from Democrats about how Republicans have set a dangerous new precedent, while Republicans will counter that they would have set aside their objections if Democrats had just fork over more information (about Hagel, Benghazi, god knows what else).
The truth is we haven’t moved beyond the realm of typical, tedious Senate obstruction — at least not yet. Today’s dust up is much more about intra-Senate squabbling over the idea that holds should be honored than it is a reflection of the GOP’s ultimate intentions vis-a-vis Hagel. Read More
You get a sense of what the NRA’s about when the best case they can make for their policies is that you’ll need these guns for when the inevitable debt/hurricane race war finally breaks out.
Check this out: the United States redrawn with a new 50 states, but each with an equal population size (about 6 million people) and conforming to real cultural zones. Visit Microsoft headquarters in the new state of Rainier or go south for vacation in the winter in Canaveral.