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kudzu22

(1,273 posts)
14. Not quite.
Thu Apr 6, 2017, 08:36 PM
Apr 2017

The reason it only takes 51 is that there is no precedent for a SCOTUS filibuster. There has never been a parliamentary ruling on how the cloture rules apply to SCOTUS nominees. The parliamentarian will rule that it takes 60 to invoke cloture, and then the Senate can overrule the parliamentarian in thios case with a simple majority. That's how Reid did it in 2013, and that's what McConnell did today. Once the precedent is set, you can't go back without the 67 votes to change rules. Hence, why it's called the "nuclear" option since once you invoke it there's no going back and everything is blown to hell.

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