Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress signed a landmark agreement codifying new rules for the House and Senate under the next GOP President. Negotiated by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Harry Reid (D-NV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Paul Ryan (R-WI), the 10-point deal provides guidelines for filibuster, judicial nominees, executive branch appointments, the debt ceiling, government shutdowns and other recent areas of conflict between the parties.
As Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus acknowledged, the impetus for the bipartisan agreement was the growing public backlash to the GOP’s unprecedented blockade of the Supreme Court left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
“With our record-setting use of the filibuster, our debt-ceiling hostage-takings, our unheard of sabotage of the President’s foreign policy and our repeated government shutdown threats, we were prepared for charges of “asymmetric polarization” and the like. But frankly, we went too far with the SCOTUS strategy pretending that it was all business as usual. Voters were starting to doubt that ‘both sides do it,’ so we had to act.”
Under the terms of the “Both Sides Really Do Do It Compact” or BSRDDIC, Republicans agreed that they would raise no objections if Congressional Democrats resorted to any of a list of 10 tactics to thwart the next GOP president. In exchange, Democrats promised to never use them. As DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz explained:
“For the past seven years, Republican have engaged in practices that brought Washington to a halt. They made a mockery of the norms of Congress and the separation of powers, ultimately threatening American democracy itself. We’re grateful that our GOP friends have agreed to let us use those same tactics. Of course, we won’t; we’re Democrats.”
Here are the 10 tactics Republicans have made available to Democrats under the BSRDDIC:
1. All Nominees Require 60 Votes for Senate Confirmation
Once upon a time, Republicans demanded an up-or-down vote for all federal judges and executive branch nominees. But that stopped on January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama first took the Oath of Office. As Texas Senator John Cornyn put it in 2013, “There is a 60-vote threshold for every nomination.”
2. Democrats Can Block 50 Percent of Judicial Nominees in Year One
Lost in the current stand-off over President Obama’s selection of Judge Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court is this. During Obama’s first year in office, the Senate Republican minority blocked 57 percent of his nominees to all levels of the federal judiciary. In contrast, 87 percent of George W. Bush’s judicial picks were confirmed during year one of his presidency.
3. Democrats Can Block All Judicial Nominees in an Election Year
As it turns out, Republicans are intent on emptying the federal bench in the final year of Obama’s presidency as well. As Mitch McConnell put it to Hugh Hewitt last June, “So far, the only judges we’ve confirmed have been federal district judges that have been signed off on by Republican senators.” In their seventh years, the Senate confirmed 23, 17, and 29 judges for Presidents Reagan, Clinton and Bush, respectively. In Obama's seventh year? 10. Now, as Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson proclaimed last week, “We absolutely will not allow the Supreme Court to flip.”
4. Democrats Can Block Appointees for Any Agency They Don’t Like
Under the agreement reached this week, Congressional Democrats can now simply refuse to confirm any Republican president’s nominee to head any department, agency or bureau they don’t like. Republicans blocked Obama’s choices for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), triggering a Supreme Court showdown that ultimately voided his recess appointments. And when it came to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank legislation, GOP leaders insisted they wouldn’t confirm Elizabeth Warren or anyone else to head it up. "It's not sexist. It's not Elizabeth Warren-specific," McConnell spokesman Donald Stewart said at the time. "It's any nominee."
5. Shutting Down the Government for Any Reason is OK
For years, Republicans have threatened to shut down the federal government. Whether the issue was tens of billions in spending, funding for Planned Parenthood, tax reform or Obamacare, the likes of Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said, “Shut it down!” Friday’s agreement lets Democrats do the same. For example, the GOP would not object if Democrats refused to pass a budget or a continuing resolution if abstinence education funding wasn’t terminated or tax breaks for fossil fuel companies not ended.
6. Blocking Debt Ceiling Increases and Triggering a U.S. Default is Fair Game
Paul Ryan famously said, “You can’t not raise the debt ceiling.” Speaker John Boehner agreed, warning “would be a financial disaster, not only for our country but for the worldwide economy.” But they had the votes to block the once-routine debt ceiling increase—and threatened to use them—unless federal spending was dramatically slashed. With the national debt forecast by CBO to grow by $9 trillion over the next decade, Congress will have to raise the debt ceiling repeatedly no matter who is in the Oval Office. And as Mitch McConnell boasted in 2011, “it's a hostage that's worth ransoming.” In the future, Democrats will have Republicans consent to prevent an increase in Uncle Sam’s borrowing authority unless, say, a GOP President raises taxes on the rich or pays for Medicaid expansion in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
7. Rules of Math Are Optional for the Congressional Budget Office
Speaking of debt, Republicans have long targeted the nonpartisan CBO for criticism over its analyses finding that Obamacare would lower the national debt while GOP tax cut plans would increase. Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) accused CBO of “budget gimmickry.” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) said simply, “it lies.” With Republicans in control of Congress, CBO director Keith Hall has been required to use so-called “dynamic scoring” of legislation to take the “macroeconomic feedback” of faster economic growth to reduce the red ink of GOP proposals. Under the deal reached this week, future Democratic majorities can use whatever scoring model they want, include Base 6, imaginary numbers or Kabbalah numerology.
8. Democrats Can Break the GOP’s Record for Filibusters
Over the past fifty years, the use of the filibuster had steadily increased as Republican Senate minorities turned to the rule block Democratic legislation and appointments. But with the election of Barack Obama, Mitch McConnell’s GOP colleagues in the 111th Congress easily shattered the previous record for filibusters. Today’s Compact allows Democrats to break that mark under President Trump, Cruz or whichever Republican next enters the White House.
9. Foreign Leaders Can Address Congress to Undermine the President’s Policy
The Republican effort to block the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the U.S. along with France, the UK, Germany, Russia and China was unprecedented in its scope. Speaker Boehner’s unilateral invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress was previously unheard of. A letter to Tehran signed by 47 GOP Senators was similarly once-unimaginable. With the Both Sides Really Do Do It Compact, Democrats can invite Japanese and South Korean leaders to address Congress to oppose President Trump’s policy of Asian nuclear proliferation, or bring Iraqi leaders to the Capitol to denounce President Cruz’s carpet-bombing of ISIS occupied cities and towns.
10. Race-Baiting in Congress Encouraged
Thanks to the wink and a nod from GOP leaders in Washington, large percentages of Republican voters believe President Obama is a Muslim who was born in Kenya. When Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) famously (and wrongly) shouted “you lie” during Obama’s 2009 health care speech to Congress, he was rewarded with millions in contributions and gun accessories with his two-word slur etched in them. Friday’s bargain gives Democrats the GOP’s blessing to engage in casual race-baiting, even on the House or Senate floor. Democrats can now refer to “rural meth-heads turning the safety net into a hammock” and calls Republican constituents by terms such as “cracker-ass crackers.”
Happy April Fools' Day!