Tag: conservative court packing

Senate goes nuclear again, speeding up Donald Trump’s nominations

GOP senators voted Wednesday to effectively change the rules by setting a new precedent on debate time

Senate Republicans moved ahead with deploying the “nuclear option” again Wednesday, this time following through on an effort to cut down on debate time for most of President Donald Trump’s nominees.

In an exercise that had far less suspense than when then-Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, made the move back in 2013, the Senate voted, 48-51, overturning the ruling of the presiding officer and setting a new precedent declaring that the remaining debate time for Jeffrey Kessler to be an assistant secretary of Commerce was two hours. A “no” vote was to overturn the presiding officer and establish the two-hour limit.

Senate rules had allowed for a maximum of 30 hours after cutting off debate, so the cut in deliberation time is drastic.

View the complete April 3 article by Niels Lesniewski on The Roll Call website here.

Conservative Court Packing

There has been a recent spate of attention to court packing, stemming largely from remarks by former Attorney General Eric Holder and other prominent progressives about adding justices to the Supreme Court.

While these comments highlighted the need for a broader discussion about court reform, the conversation they generated has lacked important context: Court packing is not a theoretical possibility, but rather an ongoing effort by conservatives happening right now.

The phrase court packing hearkens back to President Franklin Roosevelt’s efforts to alter the makeup of the Supreme Court in the face of the court’s repeated decisions striking down his New Deal legislation. Roosevelt’s plan, which would have added up to six justices to the court, engendered significant opposition and was never enacted.

View the complete April 3 article by Sam Berger on the Center for American Progress website here.