Some Senate Democrats Are Singing a Different Tune on the Filibuster

When Democrats thought they had a lock on the White House and the Senate, retiring Senate minority leader Harry Reid made one thing abundantly clear: If necessary, Democrats would get rid of the Senate's 60-vote hurdle to confirm a Supreme Court justice—just as they had done for other judicial and executive branch appointments in 2013.

"I really do believe that I have set the Senate so when I leave, we're going to be able to get judges done with a majority. It takes only a simple majority anymore. And, it's clear to me that if the Republicans try to filibuster another circuit court judge, but especially a Supreme Court justice, I've told 'em how and I've done it, not just talking about it. I did it in changing the rules of the Senate. It'll have to be done again," Reid told Talking Points Memo in an interview published October 24. (In an August interview with the New York Times, Reid called for getting rid of the 60-vote requirement for all legislation unless Republicans drastically reduced their use of the filibuster.)

"They mess with the Supreme Court, it'll be changed just like that in my opinion," Reid said, snapping his fingers, acording to Lauren Fox of Talking Points Memo. Fox reported that the Senate Democrats' incoming leader Chuck Schumer "declined to comment on the future of rules changes in the Senate."

But now that Republicans control the White House and Congress, Schumer is arguing it's important to keep the 60-vote requirement for Supreme Court nominees. "We did not change the rules for [the] Supreme Court because we thought on something as important as this there should be some degree of bipartisan agreement," Schumer said at a Wednesday press conference, trotting out an argument he never made while Harry Reid was threatening to abolish the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire is another Democrat who seems to have changed her mind about the filibuster. In 2011, Shaheen co-sponsored a bill that would ultimately allow a simple majority of senators to break any filibuster. On Wednesday, Shaheen told THE WEEKLY STANDARD it's important for the Senate to keep the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees. "I do think that keeping the 60-vote threshold on the Supreme Court makes sense to do. I'm not inclined to support changing that," Shaheen told TWS. Asked how she would decide if a nominee deserves an up-or-down vote, Shaheen replied: "I'm going to evaluate candidates based on their background, experience, their judicial philosophy--a whole range of things."