Now is not the time to play nice.
Senate Republicans, who condemned a Democratic decision last year to require only 51 votes to confirm judicial and executive branch nominees, are struggling to decide whether to reverse the so-called “nuclear option” or leave it in place when they take the majority in January.
The rules change lowered the threshold for judges and President Obama’s executive branch appointees from 60 votes to 51 votes.
Democrats invoked the change with a simple majority vote rather than a typically required supermajority, infuriating Republicans, who promised the Democrats would “pay a heavy price” for the move.
But with the majority just weeks away from their grasp, the Republicans are “soul searching” about whether to change it back.
Meeting behind closed doors Tuesday with soon-to-be Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., most members appeared undecided about what to do, although a few have come out strongly in favor of or against reversing the rules change.[…]
“I would not have invoked the nuclear option,” Cruz said. “I think it was a mistake. But, once it’s done, I don’t think we should go back. I don’t think there should be one rule for Democrats, and one rule for Republicans.”
Some Republican lawmakers reason that if they undo the Democrats’ nuclear option and return to the 60-vote threshold, Democrats will simply reinstate it the next time they are in the majority.
“They would be crazy to reinstate the judicial filibuster, because as soon as the Democrats get the majority again, they’ll get rid of it again,” said Roger Pilon, director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.