Cord Byrd: “Most supermajorities are in the Constitution to protect the structure of that Constitution. Let us talk about expulsion…”

“Most supermajorities are in the Constitution to protect the structure of that Constitution. Let us talk about expulsion, the expulsion of a Senator, or the conviction of a President in an impeachment trial. They are there to protect individual rights. Those two supermajorities are there to protect individual rights. In the case of a veto, the exercise of a Presidential veto, that supermajority is to protect one branch against another. As a matter of fact, it was stated at the Constitutional Convention by one of the Framers that one of the reasons the President ought to have a veto was to protect himself against the legislative branch. There are various others that are claiming to protect individual rights. They are not supermajorities to nail down some fiscal policy. The Constitution does not embrace somebody's fiscal policy. So there were good reasons. Those are not the reasons these two new supermajorities that we are about to inscribe in the Constitution are for.”