BREAKING: Senate Republicans Make History, First To Filibuster Defense Secretary Nominee
1:42 am - 02/15/2013
BREAKING: Senate Republicans Make History, First To Filibuster Defense Secretary Nominee
Senate Republicans today chose to uphold a filibuster against Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel, despite many of them previously pledging that they would be willing to allow him to be confirmed.
Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and John Cornyn (R-TX) all voted against cloture, despite their pleas during the Bush administration that a president’s Cabinet nominees should receive an up-or-down vote.
Four Republicans, Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mike Johanns (R-NE), voted to break the filibuster. The final vote was 58-40, with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) voting present, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) not voting at all, and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) voting “no” as a procedural move so that he can bring another vote to the floor at a later date.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had originally scheduled the cloture vote for tomorrow morning, but surprised many by pushing it up to this afternoon. Earlier today, Reid took to the Senate floor to lambaste his Republican colleagues for delaying an up-or-down vote on Hagel, the first filibuster of a Secretary of Defense nominee.
Prior to the roll call’s beginning, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) attempted to explain that the vote that was set to take place was the vote “to confirm Chuck Hagel,” rather than merely being a procedural vote. Inhofe also claimed that a 60-vote margin was common practice, rendering the actions of the Republicans not a filibuster. However, the motion was still filed by Reid as cloture — the ending of debate — rather than the actual confirmation of Hagel, as laid out be Levin before voting. This leaves the door open for Hagel’s nomination to remain on the Senate floor and renders the GOP’s actions a filibuster under the Senate’s rules.
While Senate Republicans are opposed to voting on Hagel today, they seem to believe that they’ll change their minds after the Senate returns from its President’s Day recess in 10 days. This morning, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he expected to be willing to move Hagel forward at that time, “unless there’s some bombshell that he likes blood sucking vampires.” Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and John McCain (R-AZ) said roughly the same thing today, leaving their votes against Hagel today confusing.
The hope for such a bombshell emerging seems far less than likely. A speech given by Hagel in 2008 that conservatives have long-sought as evidence that Hagel falls far outside of the mainstream was released today, turning out to be a dud. Likewise right-wing implications that Hagel was secretly being backed by a group called “Friends of Hamas” also proved to be utterly false, fabricated on a far-right media outlet.
After today’s filibuster, the Senate will reconsider Hagel after their break. While today’s vote showed that the GOP was willing to obstruct and delay, they ultimately will be unable to do this forever. In the end, Hagel still possesses more than the majority vote needed for final passage.
Source
OP: There ya go! Republican's willing to go where this gov't has yet to go...
Senate Republicans today chose to uphold a filibuster against Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel, despite many of them previously pledging that they would be willing to allow him to be confirmed.
Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and John Cornyn (R-TX) all voted against cloture, despite their pleas during the Bush administration that a president’s Cabinet nominees should receive an up-or-down vote.
Four Republicans, Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mike Johanns (R-NE), voted to break the filibuster. The final vote was 58-40, with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) voting present, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) not voting at all, and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) voting “no” as a procedural move so that he can bring another vote to the floor at a later date.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had originally scheduled the cloture vote for tomorrow morning, but surprised many by pushing it up to this afternoon. Earlier today, Reid took to the Senate floor to lambaste his Republican colleagues for delaying an up-or-down vote on Hagel, the first filibuster of a Secretary of Defense nominee.
Prior to the roll call’s beginning, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) attempted to explain that the vote that was set to take place was the vote “to confirm Chuck Hagel,” rather than merely being a procedural vote. Inhofe also claimed that a 60-vote margin was common practice, rendering the actions of the Republicans not a filibuster. However, the motion was still filed by Reid as cloture — the ending of debate — rather than the actual confirmation of Hagel, as laid out be Levin before voting. This leaves the door open for Hagel’s nomination to remain on the Senate floor and renders the GOP’s actions a filibuster under the Senate’s rules.
While Senate Republicans are opposed to voting on Hagel today, they seem to believe that they’ll change their minds after the Senate returns from its President’s Day recess in 10 days. This morning, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he expected to be willing to move Hagel forward at that time, “unless there’s some bombshell that he likes blood sucking vampires.” Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and John McCain (R-AZ) said roughly the same thing today, leaving their votes against Hagel today confusing.
The hope for such a bombshell emerging seems far less than likely. A speech given by Hagel in 2008 that conservatives have long-sought as evidence that Hagel falls far outside of the mainstream was released today, turning out to be a dud. Likewise right-wing implications that Hagel was secretly being backed by a group called “Friends of Hamas” also proved to be utterly false, fabricated on a far-right media outlet.
After today’s filibuster, the Senate will reconsider Hagel after their break. While today’s vote showed that the GOP was willing to obstruct and delay, they ultimately will be unable to do this forever. In the end, Hagel still possesses more than the majority vote needed for final passage.
Source
OP: There ya go! Republican's willing to go where this gov't has yet to go...
But yeah, they are definitely throwing a tantrum.
They want to appoint a Secretary of State for Defence except the Republicans are saying no? Except it doesn't actually matter in the end whether the Republicans are saying no or not, it will happen and all they can do is slow it down?
This is actually quite groundbreaking. For all their use of the filibuster, either side has ever done that to nominees of offices in gov't. Both sides have said this could set a dangerous president and we ARE at war. We have, what? 60k soldiers overseas sort of floating in the uncertain waters.
Actually, it's quite hypocritical. They gave the Dem's so much crap about the bombing of the embassy recently and yet they do this.
It's not like we don't have a SecDef right now. This is just more political maneuvering.
This is two completely separate things that aren't related to each other in any way, shape, or form.
The first asian american senator was voted in my a democraticc majority, free of bullshitting and gerrymandering due to the whole two senators per state thing
Whereas this is blocking the publics voice entirely, seeing as how it is a superminority overwriting even the CHANCE of a fair vote
One is Democratic at its core
The other is preventing democracy from happening entirely
It would help. F my phone liked LJ of course
Varied representation, yes, it's fantastic. A minority trying to force a president to only put people THEY like in his cabinet? Are you fucking kidding?
Chuck Hagel isn't unqualified, and doesn't have an major reasons for not being confirmed. If this were a principled stand and not an excuse to try and make Benghazi happen, I'd be willing to consider this asinine argument of yours.
This is an insult to the president and to all the men and women in the service depending on the civilian leadership that actually WANTS to be there, so kindly fuck you for this argument.
worstof all, John McCain admitted to Fox News that the Republican filibuster was sheer payback because Hagel criticized George W. Bush over the Iraq war. McCain's quote, posted without comment by the New York Times:Get it? We don't have a key Cabinet appointment because sour grapes. The end. And McCain must have some of the sourest grapes of all, being that he sold out all pretenses of being a "maverick" and got absolutely nothing for it... while Hagel, who stuck to being an ACTUAL maverick at the cost of his own career, is about to be rewarded with a position that surpasses not only McCain himself, but McCain's daddy and granddaddy the admirals too.