TPM: GOP Blockade Sells Even Old-School Dems On Nuking Filbuster

[flpoljunkie]

GOP Blockade Sells Even Old-School Dems On Nuking Filbuster

SAHIL KAPUR – NOVEMBER 8, 2013, 6:00 AM

From rank-and-file newbies to old-guard committee chairmen, Democratic senators are clamoring for filibuster reform, and insist that a mass GOP blockade of three judges to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals would be the final straw before going nuclear.

"It would mean they've totally gone back on what they said when there was a Republican president," Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the longest-serving member of the chamber, told TPM. "It would be such a reversal that I think there'd be overwhelming pressure to change the rules."

Leahy -- who is leading the Democrats' advocacy for nominees Patricia Millett, Cornelia Pillard and Robert Wilkins to the court -- has repeatedly resisted filibuster reform in the past. The No. 2 Democratic senator shares his frustrations with Republicans, who contend that none of the three vacant seats to the powerful court should be filled, and have shown no signs of letting up after they filibustered Millett last week.

"That is the most egregious example of partisanship at the expense of extremely well-qualified nominees," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL). "I am not just upset -- I am angry at the way Patricia Millett was treated."

more…

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/senate-democrats-filibuster-reform

[Laelth]

1. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth