Former Attorneys General Lieberman, Salazar Call Senate Supermajority Rule Crucial for Independent, Moderate Judiciary

Former Attorneys General Lieberman, Salazar Call Senate Supermajority Rule Crucial for Independent, Moderate Judiciary

WASHINGTON - Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Ken Salazar (D-CO), both former state Attorneys General, today denounced Republican threats to invoke the so-called nuclear option and called the Senate's supermajority rule crucial to preserving an independent, moderate judiciary. The Senators said the so-called nuclear option is a way of circumventing the rules that is inconsistent with their commitment to the rule of law.

"We stand with Senators from both parties in opposing the nuclear option because we believe to save an independent, moderate judiciary we must save the supermajority rule," Lieberman said. "Judicial appointments more often than not transcend Congresses, Administrations, and even generations. It is crucial that we get these decisions right. The answer to the problem we currently face is not to use the nuclear option but to use the bipartisan option. The supermajority rule does this."

"The President and the Majority leader are advocating breaking the rules," Salazar said. "The nuclear option is an abuse of power that breaks the rules of our government that have existed for over two centuries. The President already has had 96% of his appointees confirmed. Yet he and the Republican majority would break the rules to get 100% of the President's nominees confirmed. This is an abuse of power."

Senate Republican leaders are advocating violating the Senate rules in order to eliminate the longstanding filibuster rules for nominations, a tactic that has been nicknamed the "nuclear option." Invoking the nuclear option would mark a complete break with Senate rules and traditions and remove the check on President Bush's power in Washington by threatening to turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for his lifetime judicial appointments and Supreme Court nominees.

While Republican leaders suggest they need the nuclear option to put judges on the bench, there is no evidence to support this claim. To the contrary, during President Bush's first four years, ninety-five percent of his nominees that were brought to the floor were confirmed. In contrast, President Clinton had only eighty-one percent of nominees he submitted confirmed during his first four years. Only ten of 214 Bush Administration nominations have been turned down.

http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/library.cfm