The Nuclear Option: Does Where You Stand Depend on Where You Sit?
Nearly a year ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled the trigger on a parliamentary maneuver many have labeled the “nuclear...
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Visiting Professor of the Practice of Political Science
Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs,
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Director, Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy (2020-2021)
OP-ED
Would a New Senate Majority Abuse the Budget Reconciliation Process?
If Republicans become the majority in the 114th Congress (as Election Lab’s latest forecast says is a 93% probability), Democrats are...
Should Seats on the Supreme Court Be Left to the President’s Party Alone?
During his vacation last month on Martha’s Vineyard, President Obama predicted that he would have the opportunity to appoint Supreme...
Senate Filibuster Reform Would Benefit Both Parties, Whether in Power Now or Later
There is a good case to be made for structural changes to the Senate. Clearly, the chamber is not functioning well. Continued rules...
One Man’s Filibuster is Another Man’s Craven Politics
Providence Journal We have become accustomed in recent years to thinking of filibusters in the Senate only as an obstructionist tactic...
A Tied Senate Could End the Filibuster, Once and for All
Major analysts agree that Republicans have a very credible chance of becoming the majority party in the 2014 Senate races. Such is the...
Unintended Consequences
Sociologist Robert K. Merton popularized the “Law of Unintended Consequences.” In his 1936 work on the subject, one category he...
Examining the Nuclear Fallout from the Senate’s Filibuster Vote
Democrats are celebrating the change in the interpretation of the Senate’s filibuster rules as a “victory for democracy.” Republicans...
These Filibuster ‘Reforms’ Are a Huge Mistake
The Senate Republicans, by blatantly and transparently obstructing President Obama’s judicial nominations, have goaded the Democrats into...
Senate 'Nuclear Option' No Option
Yogi Berra once warned, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.” That...
Save the Filibuster!
The author says a simple majority shouldn't be able to change the rules. They are at it again. Republicans in the Senate are taking the...
In Defense of the Filibuster
The twin pillars of the Senate’s historic role are the rights of each senator to speak and offer amendments. These characteristics...
U.S. Senate Filibuster Reform is Unnecessary
The Senate is headed for a showdown over the filibuster. Democrats and Republicans are locked in a struggle that brings to mind the Cold...
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