What Is The Nuclear Option?

The nuclear option is a Republican Plan that will change the rules of the Senate to make filibustering (blocking) a Supreme Court nominee "against the rules." A filibuster is basically what a minority in Congress does when a motion is introduced to end debate and take a vote. The minority basically sticks its fingers in its ears and says, "La la la la... I can't hear you." They do that until the majority either says, "Fine... forget voting about it then," or the majority finds the 60 senators necessary to actually end debate and take a vote.

Right now, Republicans hold on 55 seats in the senate. Therefore, if every Democrat in the Senate decides to filibuster (keeping the debate open), the Republicans do not have the 60 votes necessary to stop the debate so that a vote can be taken.

So the Republicans, not having enough votes, want to change the rules to end the filibuster of Supreme Court nominees. How many votes does it take to change a rule in Congress? 67... seven more than the 60 needed to end a filibuster. So, how do the Republicans think they will end filibustering of a nominee if they don't have 67 votes?

They'll cheat.

Here is the wikipedia explanation:

Although the Senate's rules can normally only be changed by a two-thirds (67) vote, it was proposed to rise to a point of order that filibusters of judicial nominees are unconstitutional and/or otherwise improper. The Senate's presiding officer, normally the Vice President, could then rule on the point of order. Presumably Vice President Richard B. Cheney would be expected to sustain. The Democrats could then appeal the decision of the chair, a motion which the Republicans would immediately move to lay on the table. A motion to lay on the table is non-debatable, and would only require a simple majority vote to sustain the ruling of the chair. With success, Republicans would establish a precedent that judicial filibusters are out of order.

In my words: The Republicans will say, "We're not changing the rules. We're just saying that filibusters are not allowed."

Now, what do I think? Remember the saying "hoist on their own petard"? If the Republicans are going to make it impossible to filibuster a far right-wing Supreme Court nominee, they are also going to make it impossible to filibuster a far left-wing Supreme Court nominee. With the election picture for 2006 looking not-too-rosy for the Republicans, with a several-seat-loss quite possible, they are really going to have to do a gut check before enacting their "nuclear option." If they are trying to end the filibuster because they really believe it is an unfair tactic that has no use in a democracy, then they will do it. If they know deep down inside that it is a "heat of the moment" decision, designed to confirm a single Supreme Court justice, then they won't do it.

Truthfully though, the only way this is good for Republicans is if they can maintain a majority in Congress for the next 500 years. Otherwise, it is going to come back to haunt them when they are the ones in the minority, and a Democratic president likes the sound of "Chief Justice Michael Moore" backed up by "Associate Justice Rosie O'Donnel".