Can the Senate Filibuster Rule Itself Be Changed by A Simple Majority?
Currently, the rules of the Senate permit unlimited debated on judicial nomination – as on all Senate business. But Republicans say they can change this rule, when it comes to judicial nominations, with a simple majority vote. Are they right? I have discussed this subject in an earlier column; so has FindLaw columnist Vikram David Amar, in his columns of June 13, 2003 and June 27, 2003. Others have now joined the discussion. Among them are Martin Gold, a Washington attorney who spent many years working for the Senate Republicans, and Dimple Gupta, a moonlighting Justice Department attorney. Gold and Gupta set forth their views in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, in an article entitled “The Constitutional Option To Change Senate Rules and Procedures: A Majoritarian Means To Overcome The Filibuster.” But these views have also been very effectively rebutted, in an essay by People For The American Way — which is fighting Bush’s court-packing plan tooth and nail — entitled “No
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