User Clip: Senator Lamar Alexander on the Nuclear Option

At the conclusion of the first Senate session since November 21st (Nuclear Option Day), Senator Lamar Alexander of TN spoke for more than half an hour about the pretextual claims of Nuclear Option supporters, and to deplore the effects of the "unprecedented precedent" the Democratic Senate majority created that day. Contrary to most media descriptions, including C-Span's, the Nuclear Option did not change a rule, but instead created, without debate, a new Senate precedent - by overriding the Parliamentarian and Senate President Pro Tempore, and bypassing multiple Senate rules - that forces a "re-interpretation" (as the Congressional Research Service has since described it) of the clear language still contained in Senate Standing Rule 22 specifying how many votes (optional) cloture motions must receive to pass. Though unwilling to fully expose damaging Party practices, Senator Alexander clearly recognizes the gravity of what was done 11/21, and endeavors to convey that to the public. close