Harry Reid Has His Finger on the Nuclear Button To Stop Republican Filibuster Abuse

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Sen. Harry Reid has let it be known that if tea party Republicans don’t stop abusing the filibuster, he thinks the Senate Democrats will go to nuclear on the filibuster.

Audio of Harry Reid in a different part of the interview talking about the Republican abuse of the filibuster:

Elsewhere in the same interview, the Majority Leader warned tea party Republicans to stop abusing the filibuster, “We’ve made some changes in nominations significantly. We have to be very careful how we handle the legislation. I think it helps the Senate to get things done if we have a little bit more than a majority. We don’t want the House and the Senate to be exactly the same, but unless the — these characters who are filibustering literally everything, unless they change, I think that that’s where we’re headed.”

Reid’s warning shot was also designed to persuade a small group of Republicans to work with him, “I don’t need all 45 Republicans running to me and saying … ‘here work with us,’ all I need is a few, seven , eight. Remember, we have 54 — 55 we’ll have in October when Cory Booker’s elected out in New Jersey. Come October, I only need five Republicans. I don’t need a lot. That doesn’t mean Democrats are going to in lockstep do everything that I think is a good idea, but most of them will.”

The thing about Harry Reid is that he always telegraphs his big showdowns before he takes action. He does this because it is a way of putting pressure on the the group of Republican senators, which there are at least ten of, who do not agree with what the rest of the caucus is doing. It is a smart strategy, and after the success he had with the last filibuster standoff, there is no reason for him not to go back at them again.

Sen. Reid seems to view filibuster reform as a series of steps that are implemented in response to continued Republican bad behavior. His method has the benefit of keeping the Democratic Party looking reasonable by not unilaterally imposing the 51 vote rule in one swoop.

This is a major strategic shift from Reid’s willingness to cut a deal with Mitch McConnell two years ago. Sen. Reid appears to be bypassing McConnell completely and going straight to John McCain and the group of ten votes that he controls. Reid won’t be making any more deals with McConnell.

For Reid to admit that he thinks the Senate is heading for requiring 51 votes to pass legislation is huge. It was also an admission that he doesn’t think tea party Republican senators will stop abusing the filibuster, and an expression of the belief that there is no one on the Republican side who will stop them.

Harry Reid has been barnstorming through Nevada media telling it like it is. Republicans have learned that Reid isn’t bluffing on the filibuster, and they are pushing the Majority Leader into going nuclear on their filibustering asses.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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