TAP: Democratic 'Gang of Four' and Rule 21

[BurtWorm]

Laura Rozen has written a very interesting piece on the downfall of the "9/11 Presidency" of GW Bush in the current American Prospect. Her telling of how the Dems resolved to use Rule 21 to force Senate Repubs to move on Phase 2 of the investigation into pre-war intelligence reveals that Daschle had considered a similar tactic when he was Minority Leader...


http://www.prospect.org/web/printfriendly-view.ww?id=10647

And so, at 6:15 p.m. on Halloween evening, the “Gang of Four” -- Democratic Senators Reid, Charles Schumer of New York, Richard Durbin of Illinois, and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan -- gathered for one of their weekly Monday-night dinners in Reid’s second-floor offices.

An adviser to Reid (some staff identified senior policy adviser Randy DeValk, but this could not be confirmed) had once researched using the Rule 21 option -- an obscure procedure that allows any senator to order nonmembers from the chamber -- for former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. At the time, Senate staffers say, Daschle had been disinclined to move on it. Rule 21 had been used by agreement of both parties, but it had never in anyone’s memory been sprung on one party by the other without notice. “Others had this idea last year, and Senator Daschle didn’t want to do it,” one Senate aide, who asked not to be identified, told the Prospect. “He felt under siege. It wasn’t his style, or not safe for him -- just said he wouldn’t do it.”

But now the situation was different. In addition to the whirlwind of late-October developments, one other factor spurred the Democrats to act: hatred (which is not too strong a word) of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Again, the theme of institutions being perverted to serve political ends appears. Democratic leadership had not forgotten how Frist went into South Dakota to campaign against Daschle on behalf of Daschle’s victorious opponent, John Thune. It was the first time in the history of the Senate that a party leader had campaigned personally against the other party’s sitting leader. “Frist is reviled for many reasons,” a senior Democratic aide told the Prospect. “This is one of them. He is a liar. He is weak. I don’t think he respects the institution.”

The Gang of Four agreed that night to use Rule 21 to bring the question of the missing Phase II intelligence report to the full Senate the next day. Influencing the timing of the decision was the fact that no votes were called for the next day, and Frist was not likely to have a quorum of Republicans in the chamber to prevent the maneuver. “Reid called Rockefeller Monday night,” a Rockefeller staffer told the Prospect. “Reid said, ‘I think we should do this tomorrow.’ And Rockefeller said, ‘Absolutely.’”

[BurtWorm]

1. kick

[mndfler]

2. Remind me again why Daschle was leader in the first place

[Tamyrlin79]

3. Yeah, Daschle considered it, and rejected it.

which is just more evidence of his wimpiness in the face of the Repug 9/11 blitzkrieg.

I was not unhappy that he lost his seat, though I wish his ouster from the leadership could have happened some other way.

[BurtWorm]

4. kick

[seabeyond]

5. my question is, since dems did that, has anything happened on

phase II. cause if not enough time has gone by to do something again.

[BurtWorm]

6. I don't know what's going on.

I remember getting the impression from various blogs in the know that the tactic worked. It also put the Repubs on notice that the Dems would do it again and again if they had to.