Politicians and the American people alike have grown frustrated with Congress' inability to pass legislation. There are many pressing issues that have been caught up in the gridlock on Capitol Hill and Republicans are pushing for a change. Congress is currently teetering on the edge of another government shutdown, which would again hurt the institution's abysmal reputation. The two most pressing issues that legislatures are being faced with are the defunding of Planned Parenthood and the Iran Nuclear Deal. Both issues demand immediate attention and have the potential for long term repercussions.
The reason why there has been a struggle to get things done in Congress partly lies on the cloture rule in Senate that requires 60 votes in order to pass legislation. The Republican party only holds 54 seats in the Senate, so the Democrats have been able to successfully filibuster any bill that has passed through the House. House Republicans, frustrated with nearly everything getting shot down, are now asking to lower the threshold for cloture from 60 to 51 votes. This would assist in putting more bills on the desk of the president and hopefully more progress on the Hill.
Enacting the Nuclear Option, which entails lowering the amount of votes needed in the Senate, has the potential to help push items through Congress, but not all Republicans are on board. Some of the major concerns consist of what happens when the Democrats control the majority in the Senate as well as whether the Senate should pass legislation just like that of the House. Sen. John McCain even voiced that "there is no doubt that the framers intended the Senate to be different. This would make us just like the House."(Roll Call) The Nuclear Option could mean big changes in Washington and at this point in time could help prevent the government from shutting down, but Republicans need to take into account the repercussions that could occur if they proceed with the process. There is a lot at stake on Capitol Hill right now and the next few weeks will prove very important not only for the Iran Nuclear Deal and the argument over the funding of Planned Parenthood, but also for the 2016 presidential election.
Source:
blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/nuclear-option-mcconnell-senate/?dcz=
2 comments:
This "Nuclear Option", if passed, is definitely something that'll allow for more legislation to be passed. But what kind of legislation? I fear that this option would encourage for less cooperation between the parties and would pass more partisan legislation. What do you think this option would do to the legislative process? How likely do you think it is that this will pass?
I agree with Mariel on this. If the "Nuclear Option" is passed, wouldn't it allow for more extremist legislation to pass, especially since the Congress currently has a Republican majority? And couldn't that hurt the party in the long term? I'll be interested to see if it passes since Congress is currently in such a state of disarray, but at this point I think they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. What are your thoughts?
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