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In mounting a filibuster against John Bolton immediately after promising not to block filibusters of judicial nominees, the Dems appear to be unreliable. From Pejmanesque:
Given the decision by Democrats to hold up the confirmation vote for John Bolton—this after assuring us that there would be no filibuster of his confirmation—Republicans may well be forgiven for thinking that there will soon be bad faith shown on The Deal (regarding filibusters for judicial nominees). As such, Republicans may as well go out immediately and state that they expect Democrats to break The Deal—thus reviving the possibility that the Senate will have to vote on whether to eliminate the filibuster.
From Frank Gaffney Jr.:
Harry Reid’s mediocrity as Senate Democratic leader was on full display in the vote Thursday on the nomination of John Bolton to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. In one of the most bizarre political performances in memory, having promised not to filibuster this nominee, he announced — immediately after his party voted to do just that — that Democrats were not filibustering Bolton’s appointment.
When, minutes later, Majority Leader Bill Frist made the obvious point that the Democrats’ votes “looked” and “quacked” like a filibuster, Senator Reid reversed himself. He acknowledged that it was indeed “a filibuster” and, therefore, yet another example of his party’s deliberate effort to deny President Bush the people he wants to place in key judicial and now executive-branch positions.
Note Gaffney’s phrase, “and now executive-branch positions.” Gaffney is pointing out that, having had so much success in blocking judges via a filibuster, the Dems are now seeking to extend the filibuster technique to blocking executive-branch candidates.
And having ostensibly agreed to cease filibustering judicial nominees, the Dems immediately show that they seek to continue using this extension of the filibuster technique to block executive-branch nominees.
The Washington Times points out that the nuclear option remains available:
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist hasn’t given up. The nuclear option—or the constitutional option, as Mr. Frist prefers to call it—is as viable today as it ever was. As leader of the Senate, he recently made clear, he will not hesitate to trigger the constitutional option, which would ban judicial filibusters, if the Democratic minority resumes the unprecedented, systematic filibuster campaign it waged during the 108th Congress (2003-04), when the minority party denied up-or-down votes to 10 appellate-court nominees.
This declaration is most welcome.
