Senate Dems Upset with GOP Obstructionism and Filibusters
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/03/senate-dems-weigh-consequences-for-gop-filibusters-of-key-nominees.php
The source said conversations are still too preliminary for Democrats to lay out publicly potential avenues of recourse just yet. And the last thing leaders want is to create the expectation that they will change the filibuster rules in the middle of the current Senate session. But they are occurring in the wake of a series of GOP filibusters of top nominees, including a cabinet secretary (Chuck Hagel), the CIA director (John Brennan), and a federal judicial nominee (Caitlin Halligan) whom Republicans have effectively blocked from confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for years.
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The Halligan filibuster is something else entirely — an instance of Republicans preventing a federal court from functioning as intended rather than approve non-controversial liberal nominees to fill its vacancies.
The filibuster of Richard Cordray is a more troubling example of the same phenomenon. Republicans have acknowledged his impeccable credentials, but have refused to confirm him or anyone else to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until Democrats agree to weaken the agency through legislation the GOP can’t pass on its own.
Obama recess-appointed Cordray early last year. But he’s on borrowed time. His appointment expires at the end of 2013 — possibly earlier if the Supreme Court has anything to say about it — and without a director, the CFPB will lose several of its regulatory powers automatically.
Ask Harry how that filibuster reform worked out.
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