THE RULES CHANGE THAT ALREADY HELPED DEMS — Senate Democrats may have lost their high profile battle to weaken the filibuster, but they’re still reaping the benefits from the last time the Senate changed its rules, Marianne writes.
Democrats are capitalizing on a 2019 GOP-backed rules change that sped up the confirmation of most presidential nominees, including district court picks, by cutting down the debate time. That change, which helped Republicans confirm former President Donald Trump’s judges, has allowed Democrats to confirm judges in President Joe Biden’s first year at a pace that’s only rivaled by former President Ronald Reagan’s first 365 days in office. In addition to benefiting from the rules change, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is continuing his GOP predecessors’ decision to move forward on circuit court nominees, even if their home state senator doesn’t return a so-called “blue slip,” named for the paper that senators use to express their favorable or unfavorable opinion about a specific judicial pick.
Democrats’ swift confirmation of district court judges underscores a reality in the Senate: any change in the chamber rules will be used by whoever is in power, regardless of a party’s position on those changes when it was in the minority. So far, Democrats have confirmed 42 judges -- 29 district court nominees and 13 circuit court nominees.
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