Alexander, Lee propose abolition of SCOTUS filibusters But they face an uphill climb because of qualms by many Republicans and Democrats.

Unbowed by opposition in both parties, two Republican senators on Wednesday moved forward with a plan to gut the filibuster for all nominations — including those for the Supreme Court.

Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Mike Lee of Utah introduced a Senate resolution to “establish by rule the Senate tradition of approving presidential nominations by a simple majority vote.” Senate Democrats gutted the filibuster on all presidential nominations except those to the Supreme Court in 2013 — an exemption Alexander and Lee seek to end.


They argue that a bare majority requirement for all nominees is in keeping with hundreds of years of Senate tradition, though the practice of filibustering and requiring 60 votes on nominees became increasingly popular over the past dozen years until Democrats killed the 60-vote requirement.

“This rules change would establish by rule the Senate tradition of approving presidential nominations of Cabinet members and judges by a simple majority vote, which existed from the time Thomas Jefferson wrote the rules in 1789 until 2003, when Democrats began filibustering federal circuit court of appeals nominees,” they said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

But they face an incredibly steep path to getting their resolution enshrined as the new rule of the chamber. Rather than the “nuclear option” used by Democrats that changed the rules with just a majority of votes, Lee and Alexander seek to get broad support from both parties, which would require 67 votes for approval of the changes on the Senate floor.

Before making it to the floor for consideration by the full Senate, the proposal will first be considered at the Senate’s Rules Committee, where Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) will put it to committee vote, likely as early as next week, a Republican aide said.

“We’ll have a markup and see what happens,” Blunt said in a recent interview.

The proposal will likely face opposition from the panel’s liberal members over the Supreme Court provision. Democrats specifically made an exception to the Supreme Court in 2013 over worries that abolishing the filibuster on the nation’s highest court could allow a future Republican president to easily confirm conservative justices to the panel and potentially overturn Roe v. Wade.

And plenty of Republicans also want to change the filibuster threshold back to 60 on nominations, arguing that it would be hypocritical not to after railing against Democrats’ gutting of the filibuster for more than a year.

Given those partisan and intraparty divisions, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicted last week that Alexander and Lee’s proposal is unlikely to win the broad support it needs. If the GOP is unable to corral 67 votes for those filibuster reforms, the Senate rules will probably stay as Democrats left them: 51 votes require for confirmation on all nominees except for those to the Supreme Court, which will need 60.

“Where we’re probably going to end up is with the status quo,” McConnell told USA Today.