Yes. There are no rules in the U.S. Senate any more.

[thewayne]

"The Democratic majority changed the rules of the Senate in a way that creates a Senate without rules."
—Sen. Lamar Alexander

I wish they'd changed the rules to a Texas filibuster: as long as you keep talking, and on point go for it! I really like Rand Paul's filibuster, but then Ted Cruz had to have his ramble.

Comments

[silveradept]

What, they got rid of all the other arcane procedural rules that allow the minority to basically force things to a halt until they get their way? When did this happen, and why wasn't there wall-to-wall coverage?

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Sort of. Last week the Senate eliminated the 60 vote filibuster, but only on non-SCOTUS court appointments. This, apparently, is a precondition for the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The main issue was that the DC Circuit Court had something like 13 vacancies and the (R)s were filibustering all nominees, even when they liked them thoroughly in committee, because it would flip the party makeup of that court to the (D) side. They argued that the court didn't have enough of a case load to need the additional judges when it is the busiest circuit court going since it is the final stage before the Supes.

There was an interesting infographic on Maddow last night that showed that the political makeup of all courts (I guess the appointed ones) taken together is exactly balanced, except for something like 93 vacancies, which I'm guessing the (R)s wanted to hold off filling until they're in control again.