Harry Reid puts nuclear option in back pocket

[Draggingtree]

The Hill:

 

Harry Reid puts nuclear option in back pocket

By Alexander Bolton - 05/15/12 05:00 AM ET

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will not attempt to strip Republicans of their power to filibuster before the November election but is leaving open the possibility if Democrats hang on to the Senate.

The Democratic leader caused a stir on Thursday when he slammed a Republican objection to passing Export-Import Bank legislation without amendments and said he should have listened to colleagues who pushed for changes in Senate rules.

But Reid on Monday said he has no plans to attempt to limit Republicans’ ability to block legislation by a tactic known as the constitutional option — or, by critics, as the “nuclear option.”

“We’re not going to do it this Congress,” Reid told The Hill.

A senior Democratic aide said leaders have no appetite to rewrite the filibuster rule before the end of the year.

“It would be a useless distraction,” said the aide. “People want us working on jobs, not arguing over procedure.” Read More

 

http://thehill.com/h...his-back-pocket