Saxby Chambliss: “I would go so far as to say 100 percent of all qualified nominees should be approved by the Senate. This is why there is…”

“I would go so far as to say 100 percent of all qualified nominees should be approved by the Senate. This is why there is no requirement in the Constitution for more than a simple majority to confirm these nominees. The Constitution charges this body with the responsibility of advice and consent on the President's nominations. With this in mind, when the Senate began operations, it required only a simple majority vote to end a filibuster. We have come a long way in the last 214 years. As you have just heard, we have tinkered with the cloture rule on a number of occasions. I am of a mind that the number of cloture rules we have had since the original rule were, or are, unconstitutional, including the present rule XXII, where they are applied to prevent a majority of Senators from confirming the President's judicial nominees. But that has never happened before this year. We have never in our Nation's history had a minority of Senators try to prevent a vote on the President's nominees under the guise of rule XXII.”