Holland&Holland wrote:Right, cause the dems would have respected our position if the roles were reversed. Some people need to wake the eff up
This!
The Nuclear Option has been around for a long time, it's real name is the Constitution Option.
The Republicans used it to get Gorsuch confirmed and it will stay in place as long as the Republicans wish it to stay in place or until the Democrats take back the Senate.
If the Democrats retake the Senate in 2018, they will reverse the Constitutional Option to stop any future SC appointment by President Trump.
If the Republicans keep control of the Senate, they will be able to confirm SC appointments without Democrat obstructionism until 2020.
The Democrats will use and would have used the Constitutional Option to confirm their nominees , no matter what the Republicans do or did.
Lets say President Trump loses in 2020 and we are faced with another Obama or Hillary in the WH. If the Republicans still control the Senate, they can reinstate the 60 vote filibuster rule to stop confirmation of SC Justices.
The Republicans invoking the Constitutional Option has ZERO effect on what the Democrats can and cannot do once they get back into power. This is not a Permanent Rules Change and both parties will change it back and forth as they see fit.