Frist trying to end Democracy!
From Daily Kos Diary:
Wed Nov 17th, 2004 at 12:39:30 PST
So Frist will today "give his blessing" to a plan to change the Senate rules so that only 51 votes are required to end a filibuster of Bush's judicial nominations.
Here's the article from this morning's CongressDailyAM
SENATE LEADERSHIP
Frist To Go 'Nuclear' On Nominations
By John Stanton
Senate Majority Leader Frist today is expected to give his blessing to a GOP plan to dramatically change the Senate's voting rules -- effectively eliminating Democrats' ability to filibuster President Bush's judicial nominees, aides said Tuesday.
Democratic leadership sources warned that a move to reduce from 60 to 51 the number of votes needed to end a filibuster of judicial nominees would be considered a declaration of war by most Democrats, could further weaken the position of the chamber's shrinking population of moderates and almost certainly would create new obstacles for the GOP's agenda.
During a closed-door meeting of the GOP Conference today, Frist will inform his colleagues that while the so-called "nuclear option" of changing Senate rules will be reserved as a last resort, Republicans will no longer tolerate Democratic efforts to block Bush's nominees to the federal bench, an aide to Frist confirmed.
According to this source, no immediate action on changing the rules is planned. Frist will wait for the next floor debate on a contested Bush appointee...read on
Frist is complaining because ten nominees have been stopped, when over two hundred have been confirmed.
