ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Hat tip to Mark Angellotti for pointing out Brit Hume's interview with Sen. John Warner. Here's some of what Warner said:

[T]he constitutional option, which we call it, is not off the table. And we all 14 understand that. It is very much on the table.

To use an example, we simply unscrewed the fuse. But that fuse can be put back in if we detect that it's not extraordinary circumstances, but we're back to where the Democrats begin to trot out and do a leadership-led type of series of filibusters.

At that point, senators, seven senators of which I was one, any one or more of them may say, "Time out. I'm not satisfied that this is extraordinary circumstances as a matter of good conscience. I'm going to give leader Bill Frist the vote." And then Frist can ascertain whether or not he wants to use that constitutional measure.

This very much agrees with what Senators Graham and DeWine have said.

UPDATE: According to the following report, Senator Mark Pryor agrees with DeWine, Graham, and Warner:

DeWine said he explicitly raised the issue just before the group announced the deal on Monday night. "I said at the end, 'Make sure I understand this now, that . . . if any member of this group thinks the judge is filibustered under circumstances that are not extraordinary, that member has the right to vote at any time for the constitutional option.' Everyone in the room understood that."

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), another member of the group, concurred, saying that while he hopes the nuclear option is gone for the duration of the 109th Congress, circumstances could bring it back. "I really think Senator DeWine and Senator Graham have it right," he said.