In defense of the filibuster:
Arizona’s Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake say they want to preserve the filibuster in the Senate, even though Democrats could use the rules to stall incoming President Donald Trump’s agenda.
U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake are saying the Senate, controlled by their fellow Republicans, should not tinker with filibuster rules to ease the path for incoming President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominations and legislative agenda.
But McCain, Arizona’s senior senator, signaled to The Arizona Republic that he might reconsider his position should Senate Democrats prove intransigent.
McCain noted that, over GOP objections, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., as majority leader in 2013 pulled the “nuclear” trigger and eliminated the filibuster for most presidential nominations, including judges and Cabinet posts.
The Democrats said unprecedented Republican abuse of the filibuster — a tradition that strengthens the Senate minority party by requiring a threshold of 60 votes instead of a simple majority of 51 — forced their response.
Reid did not, however, change the rules for Supreme Court nominations or most legislation.
Soon after taking office, Trump is expected to announce his choice to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Feb. 13. But because U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Republicans refused to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to succeed Scalia, Senate Democrats may not be in the mood to cooperate on Trump’s pick.
Democrats, in general, also are likely to fight Trump policy priorities from becoming law. Trump’s presidential campaign included promises to combat illegal immigration, including building a border wall at Mexico’s expense; cut taxes; and repeal Obama’s signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans will only have 52 members in the new Senate, assuming they win a Dec. 10 runoff in Louisiana. That’s far short of a 60-member “filibusterproof” majority.
“I would like to see us not break the 60-vote rule, but I can’t rule out consideration of it if we are just totally gridlocked,” McCain said. “But we also have to keep in mind that at no time in history has one party always remained in the majority. That’s democracy.
“So sometimes you reap what you sow. Harry Reid, by the way, is just learning that lesson now.”
McCain defended the controversial Senate GOP decision to block Obama’s election-year Garland nomination, saying the point was to let the voters choose who should name the next Supreme Court justice.
“The people have decided,” McCain said. “We’re going to have a fresh start and, as you know, it’s probably not going to be just one Supreme Court justice over the next four years.”
Flake, Arizona’s junior senator, was more adamant in his defense of the filibuster.
Jettisoning the filibuster for legislation would be particularly damaging to the system and “would change the very nature of the Senate,” he said.
“As for the agenda, I think we can work with a number of Democrats,” Flake said. “We won’t always be in the majority and, if you like limited government, I think the filibuster is wise.”
One political scientist suggested the Senate Republicans would risk volatile and unpredictable consequences even if they killed the filibuster just for Supreme Court nominations, especially since Scalia’s replacement will determine the political complexion of the court.
“There’s a reason that they call it the nuclear option,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. “It would blow up the Senate.”
Nowicki is The Republic’s national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dannowicki.
The perpetual campaign ... The Electoral College has not yet met, Arizona’s canvass of election results hasn’t happened, new lawmakers have yet to be sworn in, but already, the race for 2018 is on. Exhibit A: House Speaker
He must like serving the people and collecting per diem and all that stuff, because even before he has retired as speaker, he has filed paperwork to run for the state Senate in 2018.
Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, is termed out in the House of Representatives as of January. The Senate seat from Legislative District 14 is firm territory for the next two years. But term limits will force Griffin to leave in 2018, and Gowan is ready to slide into the seat. If the voters agree, of course.
An open question: Will the Senate’s new security measures be enough to make him feel safe? Gowan and his team are in the final stages of overseeing the installation of metal detectors and a Kevlar-coated wall in the House — measures Senate personnel felt they did not need.
Exhibit B: The secretary of state race. Phoenix Mayor kicked things off when he opened a campaign committee and poured his ample mayoral fundraising balance into it. He said he needed a place to park the money due to a change in campaignfinance laws. Not that the SOS is necessarily the spot he’s eying, Stanton has added.
But that hasn’t deterred the current SOS. Within two weeks of Stanton’s filing, sent not one, not two, but three fundraising letters.
“The union-backed Mayor of Phoenix has already announced that he’s running against me for Secretary of State,” she wrote in one appeal. “The same Mayor who thinks ballot harvesting should be a widespread election tactic.”
Game on. Here come the 2018 races!
"At no time in history has
Who’s in charge around here? ... For the past four years, Senate President
ruled the Legislature, and controlled budget negotiations, with an iron fist.
Supporters and opponents knew getting a new law passed or more money for a pet project meant going through Biggs. And in many cases, that meant getting nowhere. Biggs was unbendable in his ideology and steadfast in his belief in small government and limited spending.
But in a month, Biggs will head to the U.S. House of Representatives. And Arizona House Speaker after a failed congressional bid, will head home. Their replacements — Sen.
R-Chandler, will take over as Senate president and Rep.
R-Chandler, as House speaker —