Democrats signal they may be ready to play hardball on the impeachment process

November 5, 2019
Those following the unfolding impeachment drama have turned their eyes to Thursday’s much-anticipated vote in the House on a resolution that formalizes procedures for the House’s inquiry into… Read More

Senate shouldn’t cut an impeachment trial short

October 7, 2019
After intense speculation over what could happen if the House impeaches President Trump, Mitch McConnell conceded this week that the Senate would have no choice but to hold… Read More

The Senate can’t ignore impeachment

October 1, 2019
Sourced: USDA photo by Lance Cheung. Recent reports that Senate Republicans could give “the Merrick Garland treatment” to articles of impeachment passed by the House are incorrect. The Senate’s… Read More

The problem with the Senate’s “constitutional role”

September 16, 2019
Stand and deliver. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY. On August 12, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid published an Op-Ed in the New York Times, arguing in favor of abolishing one… Read More

Rules as constraints vs. rules as leverage

September 4, 2019
One reason for the Senate’s present dysfunction is that its members interpret incorrectly how its rules operate in practice. Take, for example, two recent op-eds written by the… Read More

McConnell downplays Republicans’ use of the nuclear option

September 3, 2019
Radical. That is how Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., describes the 2013 decision by his Democratic colleagues in the Senate to scrap the filibuster for all presidential nominations other than those for… Read More

Neither Republicans nor Democrats respect Senate rules

August 28, 2019
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, has a word of warning for Democrats: Don’t scrap the filibuster. In a recent op-ed, the Senate majority leader writes that his Democratic colleagues… Read More

ICYMI: Former Senate majority leader advocates abolishing the flibuster

August 23, 2019
Official portrait, United States Congress, via Wikipedia. In the New York Times, former majority leader Harry Reid (D, NV) wrote: “The Senate is now a place where the most pressing… Read More

Mitch McConnell looks like a hypocrite on Supreme Court nominees, but he didn’t have to

August 13, 2019
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky rekindled the acrimonious debate over control of the Supreme Court when he acknowledged the Senate would consider a presidential nominee to… Read More

Is Majority Leader McConnell blocking elections security legislation?

August 6, 2019
Democrats want the Senate to debate legislation that they say is needed to secure American elections against outside interference. But they say Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is standing… Read More