Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary

Flammy wrote: post #2

So there was some press this morning on the democratic filibuster... It is not clear to me why it didn't last longer. Can anyone shed some light?

"Back in 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid changed the Senate’s filibuster rules so presidential Cabinet nominees only required 51 votes, rather than 60, to be confirmed."

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/17/14251600/tr...

Re: Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary

#5

Post by compuguy » Tue, Feb 07, 2017, 6:39 PM UTC

Flammy wrote: post #2

So there was some press this morning on the democratic filibuster... It is not clear to me why it didn't last longer. Can anyone shed some light?

It wasn't a filibuster. The Senate got rid of that for everything except Supreme Court nominations.

Re: Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary

#6

Post by jkimmel » Tue, Feb 07, 2017, 6:39 PM UTC

Flammy wrote: post #2

So there was some press this morning on the democratic filibuster... It is not clear to me why it didn't last longer. Can anyone shed some light?

Harry Reed reduced the threshold for confirming non-Supreme Court nominees to a simple majority, preventing a filibuster.

The Senate was locked 50-50, in which case the Vice President becomes the deciding vote.

Re: Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary

#7

Post by 1wheel » Tue, Feb 07, 2017, 6:40 PM UTC

Flammy wrote: post #2

So there was some press this morning on the democratic filibuster... It is not clear to me why it didn't last longer. Can anyone shed some light?

There's no longer a filibuster for cabinet nominees:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/4/donald-trumps...

Re: Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary

#8

Post by vanattab » Tue, Feb 07, 2017, 6:40 PM UTC

Flammy wrote: post #2

So there was some press this morning on the democratic filibuster... It is not clear to me why it didn't last longer. Can anyone shed some light?

The Democrats removed the 60 vote requirement to break all filibusters for all appointments excluding SCOTUS appointments. It is turning around to bite them in the butt.

Re: Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary

#9

Post by singularity2001 » Tue, Feb 07, 2017, 6:45 PM UTC

mark_sz wrote: post #3

devOS?

Good humor seems to be counterproductive to the majority

Re: Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary

#10

Post by bb88 » Tue, Feb 07, 2017, 6:51 PM UTC

vanattab wrote: post #8

Flammy wrote: post #2

So there was some press this morning on the democratic filibuster... It is not clear to me why it didn't last longer. Can anyone shed some light?

The Democrats removed the 60 vote requirement to break all filibusters for all appointments excluding SCOTUS appointments. It is turning around to bite them in the butt.

Not sure about that. At some point government has to work in spite of a reluctant congress. The rules should be about making governance better, not just helping our side to win the battle.