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By Steve Benen
As things stand, the Senate has already eliminated filibusters on the budget, all judicial nominees, and all executive-branch nominees. Donald Trump, however, argued today that this isn’t quite good enough: he wants filibusters to be eliminated altogether, on everything.
“The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!”
It’s an important topic, so let’s unpack this a bit.
1. We already know that Senate Republicans will not do this, at least not anytime soon. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), among other GOP leaders, has said in no uncertain terms that the legislative filibuster isn’t going away, the president’s pleas notwithstanding.
2. Trump, who’s never demonstrated an even rudimentary understanding of the legislative process, may not appreciate these details, but both health care and tax cuts are being pursued through the reconciliation process – which means they already can’t be filibustered. If filibusters were eliminated entirely, it might be a little easier to pass these priorities, but Democratic opposition is not the source of the White House’s problem.
3. The president is apparently convinced that Democrats would scrap all filibusters, but it’s worth remembering that Dems had the Senate majority for eight years – January 2007 to December 2014 – and did not do what Trump claims.
So why is Trump pushing such an obviously deceptive message? Probably because he’s laying the groundwork for failure.
I think NBC News’ Benjy Sarlin’s response to this rings largely true: “Trump knows he only needs 51 votes for health care. But he’s made clear repeatedly that he wants to blame Democrats if things go wrong.”
It’s a risky proposition to assume what the president knows – on this or any topic –but I heartily agree that Trump has an incentive to create excuses for failure, without regard for logic or reason.
Remember, he’s spent months arguing that Democratic obstructionism is the reason his administration is still largely unpopulated, which is demonstrably ridiculous.
It’s far too early for anyone on the left to celebrate, but there’s a real chance that Republicans will come up short on health care and tax reform. Trump, at least on some level, recognizes the possibility and is already eager to blame Democrats if his unpopular agenda is derailed.
That wouldn’t make any sense, but that’s never stopped him before.
Source: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-donald-trump-calling-the-end-all-filibusters
BY MAX GREENWOOD
President Trump on Tuesday called for the Senate to end the filibuster and allow legislation to pass with a simple majority, saying it would help his agenda to pass “fast and easy.”
“The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!” Trump tweeted. In fact, the GOP can pass healthcare bills and tax reform with a 51-vote majority if Republicans can reach agreements among themselves.
Trump called earlier this month for the end of the filibuster, which essentially requires 60 votes for a bill to pass the Senate.
"The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!" he wrote at the time.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) shot down Trump’s call at the time, saying “that will not happen.”
Senate Republicans are planning to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill and tax reform using reconciliation, a process that requires only 51 votes to pass budget-related measures. As a result, they would not need any Democratic votes to pass either.
Nevertheless, GOP lawmakers have remained deeply divided on healthcare and tax reform. In the Senate, some Republicans have indicated that they will try to pass their own bill measure to repeal and replace ObamaCare and will not vote on the version of the American Health Care Act passed by the House last month.
Senate Republicans voted last month to lower the vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees to 51 votes, in order to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Senate Democrats similarly changed the rules for judicial nominees below the Supreme Court in 2013.
Source: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/335594-trump-calls-for-end-to-filibuster
As things stand, the Senate has already eliminated filibusters on the budget, all judicial nominees, and all executive-branch nominees. Donald Trump, however, argued today that this isn’t quite good enough: he wants filibusters to be eliminated altogether, on everything.
“The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!”
It’s an important topic, so let’s unpack this a bit.
1. We already know that Senate Republicans will not do this, at least not anytime soon. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), among other GOP leaders, has said in no uncertain terms that the legislative filibuster isn’t going away, the president’s pleas notwithstanding.
2. Trump, who’s never demonstrated an even rudimentary understanding of the legislative process, may not appreciate these details, but both health care and tax cuts are being pursued through the reconciliation process – which means they already can’t be filibustered. If filibusters were eliminated entirely, it might be a little easier to pass these priorities, but Democratic opposition is not the source of the White House’s problem.
3. The president is apparently convinced that Democrats would scrap all filibusters, but it’s worth remembering that Dems had the Senate majority for eight years – January 2007 to December 2014 – and did not do what Trump claims.
So why is Trump pushing such an obviously deceptive message? Probably because he’s laying the groundwork for failure.
I think NBC News’ Benjy Sarlin’s response to this rings largely true: “Trump knows he only needs 51 votes for health care. But he’s made clear repeatedly that he wants to blame Democrats if things go wrong.”
It’s a risky proposition to assume what the president knows – on this or any topic –but I heartily agree that Trump has an incentive to create excuses for failure, without regard for logic or reason.
Remember, he’s spent months arguing that Democratic obstructionism is the reason his administration is still largely unpopulated, which is demonstrably ridiculous.
It’s far too early for anyone on the left to celebrate, but there’s a real chance that Republicans will come up short on health care and tax reform. Trump, at least on some level, recognizes the possibility and is already eager to blame Democrats if his unpopular agenda is derailed.
That wouldn’t make any sense, but that’s never stopped him before.
Source: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-donald-trump-calling-the-end-all-filibusters
BY MAX GREENWOOD
President Trump on Tuesday called for the Senate to end the filibuster and allow legislation to pass with a simple majority, saying it would help his agenda to pass “fast and easy.”
“The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!” Trump tweeted. In fact, the GOP can pass healthcare bills and tax reform with a 51-vote majority if Republicans can reach agreements among themselves.
Trump called earlier this month for the end of the filibuster, which essentially requires 60 votes for a bill to pass the Senate.
"The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good 'shutdown' in September to fix mess!" he wrote at the time.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) shot down Trump’s call at the time, saying “that will not happen.”
Senate Republicans are planning to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill and tax reform using reconciliation, a process that requires only 51 votes to pass budget-related measures. As a result, they would not need any Democratic votes to pass either.
Nevertheless, GOP lawmakers have remained deeply divided on healthcare and tax reform. In the Senate, some Republicans have indicated that they will try to pass their own bill measure to repeal and replace ObamaCare and will not vote on the version of the American Health Care Act passed by the House last month.
Senate Republicans voted last month to lower the vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees to 51 votes, in order to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Senate Democrats similarly changed the rules for judicial nominees below the Supreme Court in 2013.
Source: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/335594-trump-calls-for-end-to-filibuster
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