Daschle Invents 60-Vote Majority
Jeff Johnson, CNSNews.com
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2002
newsmax.com
WASHINGTON – Senate plurality leader Tom Daschle says he will not back down from his demand that any legislation or nomination deemed "controversial" by Democrats receive the support of 60 senators before he will allow the Senate to vote.
"I don't refuse to allow votes. We're gonna have votes on a lot of these issues," claimed Daschle, D-S.D. "We're prepared to take up these issues, but a 60-vote majority is something that should be achieved in these cases."
Daschle made his comments Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Republicans are criticizing the Democratic leader for imposing an artificial majority, not required by the U.S. Constitution or Senate rules. They also point out that he did, in fact, refuse to allow a vote on the economic stimulus package Dec. 20.
"We don't need obstructionists. We need to work together. We can have differences of opinion," said Senate Minority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., appearing on the same program. "With the Senate being so equally divided, it's important that one side not try to say, 'My way is the only way.'"
Daschle's Fantasy Constitution
Daschle says his demand of a 60-member majority before consideration of so-called "controversial" issues or nominees is linked to the U.S. Constitution.
"The Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, chose to assure that there would be ample support for controversial measures before they passed," Daschle said.
But the Constitution does not require a 60-vote majority for any purpose. It requires only a simple majority for most bills and resolutions, and a two-thirds (67 vote) majority to impeach, override a presidential veto, or ratify an international treaty.
The Senate's Web site states, "Unless rules specify otherwise, the Senate may agree to any question (any matter on which the Senate is to vote, such as passage of a bill, adoption of an amendment, agreement to a motion, or an appeal) by a majority of Senators voting, if a quorum is present."
And the Senate rules appear to be exactly where Daschle is reaching to demand the support of 60 members before scheduling votes, but, again, only loosely.
Senate Rule XXII outlines the "Cloture Rule." Invoking cloture is the only procedure by which the Senate can place a time limit on debate to overcome a filibuster. Under the rule, consideration of a pending matter is limited to 30 additional hours following a three-fifths majority vote.
Blocking Reich and Scalia
But Nickles says Daschle is demanding the 60-vote majority on bills, such as the economic stimulus package, and nominations, such as those of Otto Reich and Eugene Scalia, prior to any filibuster taking place.
"The Democrats are saying: 'We'll filibuster that nomination. We'll give you a vote, but you're going to have to have 60 [votes],'" he explained.
President Bush nominated Reich to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and Scalia to serve as solicitor for the Labor Department.
Scalia is the son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who voted with the majority in ruling that President Bush had legally won the presidential election in Florida. Republicans believe Democrats are holding up the younger Scalia's nomination to punish his father. They say the Reich nomination is being stalled on similar ideological grounds, not because of questions about the qualifications or abilities of the nominee.
Nickles says Bush should use his recess appointment authority to place the men in the positions while the Senate is adjourned. The move would fill the positions, without Senate approval, until January 2003.
But It Was OK for Clinton to Make Recess Appointments
"I would discourage it, but I recognize that that's a president's prerogative," responded Daschle. "That isn't the way it ought to be addressed. The constitutional responsibility of the president and the Congress is to work together on these nominees."
Nickles says Republicans have tried.
"We did work together. We worked together in a bipartisan fashion that we've never seen before," he added. But "the last three or four weeks of the session became very partisan. And that was unfortunate. So we didn't get things done."
President Bush said Friday that he would consider recess appointments "at the appropriate time."
"I'm disappointed that a lot of my appointments were stalled in the United States Senate, weren't given a hearing," he added. "I'll take a good, hard look at all the options available to me."
Bush has until the Senate reconvenes Jan. 23 to make those appointments without the Senate's approval |
