Senator Jeff Merkley (D. OR) has never given up on this fight:
http://thehill.com/...
Senate Democrats are again threatening to change Senate rules after Republicans blocked a pair of the president’s nominees on Thursday.
The blockade of two of the president’s picks has renewed talk among Democrats about the “nuclear option," which would change Senate rules to allow a nominee to be confirmed with a majority vote.
Republicans on Thursday blocked motions to end debate on confirming Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Patricia Millett to join the D.C. Circuit Court.
The blocked picks upended a tentative truce the Senate struck earlier this year.
Senate Democrats had previously threatened to go nuclear to advance several long-stalled picks, but a private meeting of the full Senate averted it. At the time, leaders in both parties were optimistic the deal would set a new course for the Senate, but Wednesday’s vote sent those who had pushed for rules changes in the past right back to their earlier message.
"What happened today was really an attack on the other branches of government," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said. "In January, [Senate Republican Leader] Mitch McConnell [Ky.] made a commitment to return to the norms and traditions of the U.S. Senate. On nominations, the norms and traditions are up and down votes and we did not get that today. That is something that cannot stand as it is.”
Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) said Wednesday’s votes proved “once again” the need for rules reform.
“I have said for a long time: the Senate is broken. I called for changes in the Senate rules at the beginning of this Congress, but we didn't do enough,” he said in a statement. “And now we're right back in the same dysfunctional situation.” - The Hill, 10/31/13
Right now, it sounds like Senate leadership is taking a "wait and see" approach:
http://www.politico.com/...
Officially, leadership is taking a wait-and-see approach before again throwing the Senate into a chaotic battle over the filibuster, which consumed the chamber in July. But there may even more pressure to consider filibuster reform in the coming weeks, when tough votes loom over Obama’s nominees to head the Federal Reserve, the Homeland Security Department as well as two additional D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judges.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he wants to see how those additional judicial nominees fare before again moving toward the nuclear option.
“I’m going to file cloture on two other D.C. Circuit [nominees] and then make a decision. I’m not making it today,” Reid told reporters following a closed-door Democratic lunch. When informed that Republicans don’t believe Reid will invoke the nuclear option, Reid said, “Well, time will tell, won’t it?”
“Let’s see what happens with the remaining judges,” added No. 3 Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Reid also pledged to reconsider the Watt and Millett nominations “at some point in the very near future.”
But not everyone wants to proceed with such caution. Liberals want to eliminate the filibuster on nominees as soon as possible. Those Democrats — many of whom have never served in the Senate minority — believe opportunities were missed earlier this year when the Senate came to the brink of sweeping rules changes only to settle on more modest agreements to move some nominees and eliminate a few procedural hurdles. - Politico, 10/31/13
But Merkley and his colleagues are banging the drum for the nuclear option pretty loud and pretty hard:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
"Senate Republicans just blocked up-or-down votes on a judicial nominee and an executive nominee back to back, within minutes of each other," said Merkley, a vocal proponent of filibuster reform. "This is a war on the other two branches of government and their ability to do the jobs the American people need them to do."
"If the Republican caucus finds that despite [Millett's] stellar legal reputation and commitment to her country that somehow a filibuster is warranted, I believe this body will need to consider anew whether a rules change should be in order," Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) warned before the vote.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) also called for scrapping the filibuster after the two cloture votes.
"The lessons over this summer's Senate rules battle should be clear," said Fix The Senate Now, a coalition of liberal advocacy groups pushing to scale back the filibuster. "As Senate Majority Leader Reid pledged, Democrats must be prepared to change the Senate rules should Republicans continue to block these qualified nominees from receiving an up-or-down vote. If Republicans continue with their obstruction, Senator Reid must live up to his threat to change the Senate rules."
"It forces back open the discussion about rules reform in the Senate," said Doug Kendall, the president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal legal advocacy group.
But Republicans aren't taking the threats of filibuster reform seriously, after Democrats raised the threat twice in the past year, only to stop short of changing the rules both times.
"Look, at the end of the day, if you're going to bring up the nuclear threat every time something comes up, people say, 'Bring it on.' Go ahead. Go ahead," said Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). "If they want to do it, let them do it. I mean, you can do that once or twice... But at some point, you kinda have to say, look, if you want to, just go ahead and do it. I mean, if that's what you want to do, do it. I don't think they will." - TPM, 10/31/13
But Merkley and his colleagues have some pretty big allies urging them to use the nuclear option:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Vice President Joe Biden, long a defender of tradition in the United States Senate, said Thursday it might be time to change the institution's rules after Republicans blocked yet another one of President Barack Obama's nominees.
"I think it's worth considering," Biden said after the GOP nixed the appointment of Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) to oversee the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Biden presided over the session in his role as president of the Senate after swearing in the new New Jersey senator, Cory Booker (D).
Biden was asked specifically if the rules should be changed so that a simple majority of senators could confirm nominees. Normally, it takes three-fifths of the Senate, or 60 votes, if one party decides to obstruct someone.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sounded like he could be in Biden's camp.
"There's a tipping point," Durbin told reporters, refusing to go further. "There comes a tipping point."
Some of his colleagues, who have long argued for a change, suggested the latest blockades -- Republicans also blocked a federal judge nominee Thursday -- only highlight the problem. - Huffington Post, 10/31/13
It's unclear which way Reid will go but here's his statement from today:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
"Republicans’ unprecedented obstruction continued today with a step that we have not seen since the Civil War, as they blocked Representative Mel Watt, a sitting member of the House of Representatives, from being confirmed to an Administration position. Minutes later, Republicans blocked a highly qualified woman, Patricia Millet, from being appointed to the D.C. Circuit Court despite having no significant objections to her record or qualifications. In both cases, Republicans are serving the Tea Party instead of their constituents. Americans of all political stripes want their leaders to put ideology aside in common-sense cases like these, and work together to get things done."
"I will exercise my right as Majority Leader to reconsider these nominations at some point in the very near future. I hope my Republican colleagues will reconsider their continued run of unprecedented obstructionism. Something has to change, and I hope we can make the changes necessary through cooperation.” - TPM, 10/31/13
Reid used the nuclear option before, he needs to use it again. You can click here to sign the Daily Kos petition pushing Senate Democrats to end the GOP's filibuster nonsense:
http://campaigns.dailykos.com/...
And if you want to thank Senator Merkley for continuing to fight to make the Senate work, please do donate to his 2014 re-election bid:
http://www.jeffmerkley.com/