Remember when the Rs warned the Ds/Schumer not to do this? And many of us said they should do it because they would do it the first time they had the opportunity. And here they are, what a surprise [not!]. Even the way this article is titled gives Thune an "excuse"--"bows to realities". The reality is that the Rs have been busy destroying the constitution for years, with the Trump administration and the current Senate and SC being the latest to slash it to pieces. The line runs from Gringrich to DeLay to Bush/Cheney to McConnell/Trump and Johnson. Historians will note that this administration, this party and this Supreme Court were the executioners who lacked the wisdom, the decency and the political imagination to maintain the integrity of separation of powers and accountability which are at the heart of our constitutional order. Clever without real historical perspective.
Upending Precedent, Thune Bows To Realities of a Polarized Senate
In using the nuclear option, John Thune has turned a Senate precedent on its head, defying his reputation as an institutionalist.
By Michael Gold
Reporting from the Capitol
Sept. 17, 2025
When John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, stood on the Senate floor in January for the first time as the majority leader, he promised he would maintain the chamber’s norms and traditions, keeping alive a healthy spirit of debate and adhering to longstanding, though increasingly embattled, precedents.
“One of my priorities as leader will be to ensure that the Senate stays the Senate,” Mr. Thune said. “That means preserving the legislative filibuster, the Senate rule that today perhaps has the greatest impact on preserving the founders’ vision of the United States Senate.”
More than eight months into his tenure, the filibuster remains in the Senate’s tool kit. But Mr. Thune, like leaders of both parties before him, has presided over a substantial dulling of its edge.
On Wednesday, Republicans, led by Mr. Thune, completed a rare maneuver that effectively changed the Senate’s rules to allow blocs of nominees to be confirmed by a simple majority vote rather than a 60-vote supermajority, a move they muscled through along party lines. Mr. Thune called it a necessary corrective to end a Democratic blockade that was stalling confirmation of President Trump’s appointees.
But the move marked the third time this year that Mr. Thune had steered around Senate precedents to advance Mr. Trump’s priorities. In the process, he has strayed from his reputation as an institutionalist and bowed to the rough-and-tumble politics of an increasingly polarized Congress.
continues at nytimes.com
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