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Since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used the so-called “nuclear option” to essentially end the filibuster on most presidential nominations on Thursday, there has been considerable speculation over the future of the filibuster on legislation. GAI Senior Fellow Joshua Huder argues that the filibuster, when used correctly, can foster bipartisanship
On Thursday, the Senate agreed to lower the amount of votes needed to break a filibuster from 60 to 51. Reid says the drastic decision was borne out of frustration from repeated Republican attempts to block President Obama’s judicial and executive nominees. Republicans have countered saying the Democrats will regret
Enormous change to the Senate occurred today. By majority vote, the Senate moved to proceed on judicial and executive nominations, with the exception of Supreme Court nominations. What you need to know: The parliamentary tactic used in the Senate was not a rules change. It was a change in precedent
Senior Fellow Marian Currinder spoke to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) this morning on the political dynamics of Congress. The question at hand was why Congress is the way it is, and why it matters. It’s no secret that the current Congress is unpopular, with an
Senior Fellow Josh Huder followed-up to his October 4 post — written with Senior Fellow Marian Currinder on Speaker Boehner’s ability to negotiate a compromise — with a post on the budget outlook: “In the wake of the government shutdown and near default on the nation’s debt, one of the
As you are well aware, Congress passed and the president signed a bill to reopen the federal government. Because of the shutdown, GAI had to re-schedule almost all of our classes for the month of October. We hope that those of you who were directly affected by the cancellations will
As the House prepares to vote for another CR/debt deal without a majority of Republicans, some wonder whether this is the end of the line for Speaker Boehner. However, given the dynamics in the House, a mid-session overthrow is very unlikely, though not impossible. For one, a speaker has never
Currently, the debate over American polarization is dominated by electoral considerations: gerrymandering, sorting, PACs, campaign finance, etc. Most of these arguments are based on underlying assumption that the American people, or a political process that sorts voters into districts, are driving polarization. For the most part this is true. However,
The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in 2010 delivered a wallop that left federal campaign finance regulations reeling, but McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission threatens to land the knockout blow. Throughout the nearly four decades since its decision in Buckley v. Valeo, the court has consistently recognized a key distinction
This morning on WTOP’s morning program Rep. Andy Harris (MD-1) blamed the government shutdown on Democrats’ refusal to remove the “gold-plated” health care benefit from the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). That’s the provision that allows the government to chip in for Members and their staff’s health benefits. Interestingly, fellow Republican
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