John Cornyn: “it seems as if the majority leader and some others are rattling the cage once again in favor of the so-called nuclear…”

“it seems as if the majority leader and some others are rattling the cage once again in favor of the so-called nuclear option. For those who may not follow this topic closely, this is simply breaking the Senate rules in order to impose majority will on the minority party by changing the procedures by which the Senate functions. In other words, it refers to a process by which the rules of the Senate are broken in order to change the rules themselves. As the distinguished majority leader has pointed out in the past-- right here on the Senate floor in front of his colleagues and constituents and all the American people, Senator Reid affirmed that the proper way to change the Senate rules was through the procedure laid out in those rules. The majority leader, Senator Reid of Nevada, went on to say that he would oppose any effort in this Congress or the next to change the Senate rules other than through the regular order, and he recommitted himself to this proposition in a colloquy with the Republican leader earlier this year. So I would ask the majority leader: Do you plan on keeping your word or are you going to resort to brute political force and break the Senate rules in order to change the rules and fundamentally transform the nature of the U.S. Senate? Should the majority leader break his promise, I believe he will inflict lasting and perhaps irreparable damage to this institution.…”