Nuclear option
In November 2013, Senate Democrats led by Harry Reid used the nuclear option to eliminate the 60-vote rule on executive branch nominations and federal judicial appointments. In April 2017, Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell extended thenuclear option to Supreme Court nominations. As of November 2020, a three-fifths majority vote is still required to end debates on legislation. Under the precedent set by the Senate today, the threshold for cloture on nominations, not those to the Supreme Court of the United States, is now 51 votes.
About Nuclear option in brief
The nuclear option is an analogy to nuclear weapons being the most extreme option in warfare. It is invoked when the majority leader raises a point of order that contravenes a standing rule, such as that only a simple majority is needed to close debate on certain matters. In November 2013, Senate Democrats led by Harry Reid used the nuclear option to eliminate the 60-vote rule on executive branch nominations and federal judicial appointments. In April 2017, Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell extended thenuclear option to Supreme Court nominations in order to end debate on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch. As of November 2020, a three-fifths majority vote is still required to end debates on legislation. Under the precedent set by the Senate today, the threshold for cloture on nominations, not those to the Supreme Court of the United States, is now 51 votes. That is a ruling that is not sustained by the ruling of the Chair and is now a ruling by a majority of 51 votes, rather than the two-thirds supermajority normally required to amend the rules. This procedure uses Rule XX to allow the Senate to decide any issue by simple majority vote, regardless of Rule XXII, which requires the consent of 60 senators to end a filibuster for legislation and 67 for amending a Senate rule. The term ‘nuclear option’ is used to refer to the procedure used by the U.S. Senate to override rules of the House of Representatives, which is also known as the ‘regular order’ procedure. It was first invoked on November 21, 2013, as follows: Mr.ID raise order that the vote on cloture under XXII for all nominations other than Supreme Court than that of the President is by majority vote.
Mr. ID then asks for the yeas and nays and asks the President pro tempore to appeal the ruling. The decision of the chair is then appealed, and is overturned by simplemajority vote, establishing new precedent. The President pro Tempore then calls for the vote to be taken on the nominee for Supreme Court, and the vote is taken by majority of the Senate. That vote is then taken, and the nominee is confirmed by a vote of 51 to 51. The president is then sworn in and the nomination is approved by majority votes. This is the first time a Supreme Court nominee has been confirmed by majority majority vote in the history of the US Supreme Court. The precedent is now set by today, and it is now a ruling that the decision to vote for the nominee to be confirmed by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not sustained by Majority Leader Harry Reid’s ruling. This means that the nominee will be confirmed with a majority vote on the next Supreme Court session. The ruling is not sustained. Without debate, there is no need for the three-thirds majority to end debate on a certain issue. The presiding officer is therefore overruled by a simple majority. The Senate Parliamentarian then denies the point of order based upon rules and precedent, then appeals the ruling, and overturns it.
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This page is based on the article Nuclear option published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
