FIRST it was President Obama’s arrogant “I've got a pen and I've got a phone” comment while signing almost 300 executive orders. Much to the chagrin of the national Democrats, President Trump used the inherited pen and phone to reverse many of his predecessors unconstitutional orders.
NOW we have the Senate's "nuclear option" being employed to confirm Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch! Keep in mind that the Constitution does not mention the filibuster. It is a Senate rule! Keep in mind that the judicial filibuster was a creation of the DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Yesterday the Senate was returned to its previously normal state.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell explained it this way:
I know the Democratic leader would rather not revisit the circumstances that brought us to this moment. He and his party decided to 'change the ground rules' for handling judicial nominations. He and his party pioneered the practice of filibustering lower court judicial nominees. He and his party launched the first partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. He and his party deployed the nuclear option in 2013.For those of you who require more convincing, please consider the fact that two fairly recent SCOTUS nominees by Republican presidents, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, were confirmed with less than 60 votes (58-42 and 52-48 respectively)!
