The nuclear option has wiped the smirk off Michael Steele and Joe Scar's faces today

[marble falls]

39. Dick Cheney agrees!

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/04/23/cheney_backs_ending_judicial_filibusters/

Cheney backs ending judicial filibusters
Slams Democrats over Senate tactics

By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press | April 23, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday that he would vote in the Senate to stop filibusters of judicial nominees if given the chance. Democratic leader Harry Reid responded by contending that means President Bush is breaking his word to stay out of the fight over Senate rules.

Senate majority leader Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, wants to change Senate rules by banning judicial filibusters -- a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote on a nomination with just 41 votes in the 100-member body. Minority Democrats have used the tactic to block confirmation votes on 10 of Bush's appeals court choices.

Republicans hold 55 seats in the 100-member Senate, but a vote on changing the rules is expected to be close. Cheney would be able to vote only if there is a tie.

''Let me emphasize: The decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate," Cheney said in a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association at the National Press Club.

''But if the Senate majority decides to move forward and if the issue is presented to me in my elected office as president of the Senate and presiding officer, I will support bringing those nominations to the floor for an up-or-down vote," Cheney said.

Reid said the White House was ''shattering the checks and balances in our government in order to put radical judges on the bench." The Nevada senator said Bush was making it clear that he no longer wanted to work with Democrats.

''Last week, I met with the president and was encouraged when he told me he would not become involved in Republican efforts to break the Senate rules," Reid said. ''Now, it appears he was not being honest, and that the White House is encouraging this raw abuse of power."

Cheney said a minority of senators are using the filibuster to, in effect, establish a 60-vote requirement for judicial confirmation ''in an astounding departure from historical precedent."

''There is no justification for allowing the blocking of nominees who are well qualified and broadly supported," Cheney said. ''The tactics of the last few years, I believe, are inexcusable, particularly when you are dealing with men and women of the caliber of those nominated by George W. Bush."

Democrats say it is Cheney who is trying to reinvent Senate history by changing the filibuster rules.

''The White House has always wanted to reduce the Senate's power and the fact that Vice President Cheney is encouraging this abuse of power should strengthen the Senate's resolve to resist," said Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York.

Republicans want to resolve the matter before a vacancy occurs on the Supreme Court. They worry that having to get support from 60 senators would affect Bush's selection for that seat. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, is fighting thyroid cancer.

© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company