The Death of the Senate

“President Trump’s first Supreme Court nomination has the potential to do more than reshape the nation’s judicial branch for years to come. It could end the Senate’s long history as the world’s greatest deliberative body,” the Washington Post reports.

“Liberal and conservative activists are girding for a fight that, under current rules, gives Democrats the power to block any court nomination. But in this week’s environment, with Democrats delaying Cabinet nominations and both sides calling each other names largely unheard of in the history of the Senate’s genteel discourse, Republicans could take steps to eliminate that power.”

“If such a showdown occurs, it would be about more than ending Senate tradition of allowing an entrenched minority to stymie legislation and nominees through the filibuster. It would be about forever changing the nature of the Senate, which the founders set up with the express goal to slow down and cool off the hasty and heated impulses more common in the House.”