WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid made one party in the Senate significantly more powerful when
he ended filibusters on presidential appointments Thursday -- and instantly
elevated the importance of the 2014 Senate elections.
"It
raises the stakes," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has often
remarked that "elections have consequences."
The one-time GOP presidential
nominee also admitted that the ability Reid exercised to break the Republican
blockade of President Barack Obama's nominees was one of those consequences.
"I'm afraid so,"
McCain said.
Led by the Nevada Democrat, the
Senate voted 52-48 Thursday to wield the "nuclear option,"
eliminating the ability of the Senate minority to filibuster executive branch
nominees and any judgeship below the Supreme Court by changing the requirements
for passage to a simple majority vote. And now, thanks to Reid's power move,
the stakes for 2014 include control of a Senate that can either be a stronger
aid to Obama in the furtherance of his agenda or, if the GOP can take over, an
even more effective check on the executive's ambitions.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested just that immediately after Thursday's vote to
change the rules, announcing that he intended to strike back at the polls next
fall.
"The solution to this problem
is at the ballot box," McConnell rather pointedly told reporters on
Capitol Hill. "I look forward to having a great election in November
2014."
Republicans need to win six
seats next fall to take over the upper chamber, and the map remains a tough one
for Democrats, who have to defend 21 seats, compared to just 14 for the GOP.
And seven of those Democratic seats are in states that lean Republican, with a
couple more in swing states.
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