Harry in a Hurry

Parliamentarians gone wild:

In a shocking development Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) triggered a rarely used procedural option informally called the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules.

Reid and 50 members of his caucus voted to change Senate rules unilaterally to prevent Republicans from forcing votes on uncomfortable amendments after the chamber has voted to move to final passage of a bill.

Reid’s coup passed by a vote of 51-48, leaving Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fuming.

The surprise move stunned Republicans, who did not expect Reid to bring heavy artillery to what had been a humdrum knife fight over amendments to China currency legislation.

This matters, potentially a lot, because it now means that, for at least as long as this Congress is in session, Reid can essentially ram through anything he wants, so long as he has a bare majority. No longer does it require 60 votes to get something through the Senate.

Now, we've been here before. You might remember this:

Republicans had considered using Reid’s maneuver, dubbed the “nuclear option,” in 2005 to change Senate rules to prohibit the filibuster of judicial nominees. Democrats decried the plan under consideration by then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) as a bomb that would decimate Senate traditions.

That crisis was resolved by a bipartisan agreement forged by 14 rank-and-file senators known as the Gang of 14.

It is interesting that when Republicans assert the right to use majority power, it constitutes a crisis. This, apparently, isn't a crisis.

Just a guess -- Reid is going to think better of this and change the rules back soon. If he continues to operate the Senate in this matter, he will establish a precedent that could really bite him in the butt in 2013. Imagine that the Republicans retake the Senate in the 2012 cycle, which is quite likely. If Mitch McConnell were able to wield this power, he could easily get a vote through on a bill that would repeal Obamacare and send it to a Republican president's desk. I'd wager this rule would go back to being a crisis then....