The Nuclear Option or Direct Democracy
Confronted by total opposition to the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Republican Senators are encouraged to use what is called a “Nuclear Option.”
Senate rule XXII requires three fifths of the Senators (60 votes) to approve nomination of a Supreme Court Justice. Changing that rule would allow Judge Gorsuch to be appointed by a vote of 51 Senators.
Clearly, the United States is in precarious political waters when formal rules of long standing are abandoned to achieve a political end.
The appointment of Judge Gorsuch to political conservatives desperate to stop the transition of to American Constitutional Law farther the Left by decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court is critical.
But Rule XXII protects Left and Right from actions by simple majorities.
A solution is to introduce legislation requiring direct election of U.S. Supreme Court Justices thus removing the Constitutional requirement of indirect election by the Senate. If we’re moving toward direct democracy, we may as well go all the way.
