The Senate Should Not End the Filibuster with the Nuclear Option, States Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

TUCSON, Ariz., April 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Democrats have secured enough votes to block Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch with a filibuster. Now all eyes are on the slim 52-vote Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, and whether they will invoke the "nuclear option" to change the Senate rules in order to push Gorsuch through. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) urges the Senate not to end the filibuster and not to resort to the nuclear option.

"The filibuster is a valuable American tradition that has protected us against tyranny," observes AAPS General Counsel Andrew Schlafly. "If abdicated by the Senate, it will diminish its own essential role concerning positions of power that last for decades on the Supreme Court."

Republicans in the U.S. Senate are more often in the minority than in the majority, which means Republicans would be hurting themselves most. Democrats could easily regain control of the Senate by 2020, and Republicans would then regret abolishing the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.

Some argue that eliminating the filibuster will make it easier for President Trump to place additional nominees on the Supreme Court, but the opposite is true. Resignations are less likely by Justices Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg if the filibuster is erased as a check-and-balance on choosing their replacements.

There are at least three additional reasons why the Senate should not abandon its filibuster later this week.

First, there is no reason to change the rules based merely on Democratic objection to the initial nominee. A better nominee can simply be chosen. Only if one side filibusters multiple nominees would it justify changing the rules of the game.

Second, ending the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees is a slippery slope that will inevitably lead to ending the filibuster for legislation also. There are more bad bills than good ones, and more bad nominees than good ones, so it would be a mistake to remove a valuable impediment to easy confirmation and legislative enactment.

Third, Republicans lose credibility when they change the rules. How can they claim to stand for the Rule of Law if they change the rules midstream as soon as they do not get what they want?

"There is no hurry for filling a Supreme Court seat that has already been vacant for more than a year," AAPS Executive Director Jane Orient, M.D., declares. "The Senate should hold hearings on the benefits of the filibuster rule before ending a tradition that has served our Nation well."

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in virtually all specialties and every state. Founded in 1943, AAPS has the motto "omnia pro aegroto," which means "all for the patient."

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

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