'Nuclear Option' for Supreme Court Nominees Will Damage Senate
Democrats may be on the verge of reaping the bitter harvest of the seeds sowed in November 2013. The then-majority Democrats used a...
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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
McCain's Supreme Court Strategy Leads to Nuclear Senate
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has a long history of off-the-charts right-wing views. He has suggested that if Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton...
Will There Be a 50-50 Senate Next Year?
Increasingly since about 1972, voters have cast ballots for president and the Senate for members of the same party. If this pattern holds...
Senate Continues to Disrespect Constitution, Obama and Supreme Court by Not Voting on Garland
The unpredictable and nasty presidential campaign has obscured other matters which deserve our attention. On March 16, President Obama...
Will Partisan Politics Infect the Supreme Court?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has unleashed a torrent of commentary in the wake of her comments about presumptive Republican nominee Donald...
Gun Debate Shows Value of the Filibuster
Democrats, led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), yesterday used the unique rules of the Senate to launch a filibuster demanding legislation...
Supreme Court: Eye on the Prize
One of the most important tasks the Constitution assigns to our presidents is the nomination of justices to the Supreme Court. The shape...
Chance for Bipartisan Filibuster Reform?
The time is right. Perhaps filibuster reform is within reach. Republicans are frustrated by the Democrats’ use of the filibuster to...
A Time for Expediency and Extreme Measures?
In November of 2013, Senate Democrats, then in the majority, led by Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.) and goaded by the Republicans, made an...
Heading for a Filibuster Christmas?
As the Senate returns after Labor Day from its August recess, there is little sign that the “Filibuster Summer” will not become the...
ObamaCare and the Reid Rule
Suddenly, the presidential campaign season has descended on the Senate filibuster reform debate. A recent magazine headline declared,...
Slowing Down on the Fast Track
President Obama went before the Congress last month to deliver his State of the Union address. It has become the norm in the...
Stand Up and Change the Rule
Last November, Senate Democrats used a parliamentary ploy we know as the “nuclear option” to circumvent Senate filibuster rules to permit...
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