CRUZ: NUKING FILIBUSTER COULD GIVE DHS 'UNCHECKED DISCRETION' OVER BORDER SECURITY

CRUZ: NUKING FILIBUSTER COULD GIVE DHS 'UNCHECKED DISCRETION' OVER BORDER SECURITY

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by MATTHEW BOYLE
13 Jul 2013,
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said in a statement that the nation’s next Secretary of Homeland Security would have carte blanche authority with no congressional oversight on border security if the Senate immigration bill becomes law and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid succeeded in changing longstanding Senate filibuster rules.

Secretary [Janet] Napolitano's resignation announcement coincides with Senator Reid's brazen attempt to silence individual senators and give all power over executive nominations to the White House and the Senate majority by threatening to use the so-called "nuclear option." At the same time, he silenced the minority by denying them the right to offer amendments to immigration reform on the Senate floor. The result? The next DHS Secretary gets unchecked discretion over U.S. border security.

Critics like Cruz have noted that the Senate bill would grant the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented levels of discretion. During the Senate floor process for the bill, Reid only allowed nine amendments to be voted on out of hundreds that were offered.

Factor in Reid's plan to do away with the Senate filibuster and Cruz says the Obama administration and Senate Democrats would be increasing their power. Cruz said that in terms of border security such a power grab would mean America’s borders would never be secured.

“The Senate is getting ready to hand complete control of immigration and border security to President Obama and Harry Reid,” Cruz said. “The nuclear option would make it possible for the majority to ram through a partisan nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security – who will then oversee border security, immigration, and counter–terrorism policies – with no minority input.”

In his statement, Cruz also joined Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in calling on President Barack Obama to appoint someone who will follow the rule of law to Napolitano’s position.

“I hope the Senate will have a meaningful role in confirming the next Secretary,” Cruz said. “Moreover, I hope the President's nominee will be dedicated to actually enforcing the law as written, rather than catering to the political agenda of the White House.”

​http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...order-security

Throw the incestuous bunch out. Start with John McCain!
REID DEMANDS GOP FILIBUSTER SURRENDER (UPDATE: GETS IT?)

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By: David Harsanyi http://www.alipac.us/image/png;base6...AASUVORK5CYII=
7/16/2013 07:57 AM

UPDATE: Senators have reached a tentative deal on the filibuster. “We may have a way forward on this, I feel fairly confident,” Reid said. “… I think everyone will be happy.” John McCain led negotiations to diffuse the showdown. No one will fault conservatives for being skeptical that Reid and McCain could reach a deal that would make everyone happy. Especially when one considers that Republicans had so little to gain from surrendering their filibuster.
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Should we be surprised that Harry Reid lied about his intentions?

Nearly the entire Senate met last night for around three hours behind closed doors to try and hammer out a deal to avert a Harry Reid’s threat of blowing up the filibuster to insure President Barack Obama’s executive-branch nominees get an up-and-down vote. Things went nowhere according to reports — though talks will continue this morning.

Reid continues to argue (falsely) that Republicans are engaged in unprecedented obstructionism, demanding, in essence, that the GOP ask permission from the majority to filibuster.

Politico has a report on the negotiations, which features this rather amazing paragraph:

According to several sources familiar with the matter, McConnell floated the possibility that Reid could essentially get what he wanted: Enough votes to confirm seven presidential nominees awaiting action by the Senate. But there was a catch: Reid must drop his threat to employ the nuclear option that would allow him to change the filibuster rules with just Democratic votes. Reid would not agree to the condition because McConnell refused to forgo filibustering future presidential nominees.

Reid claimed Republicans could avoid the nuclear option if they simply confirmed the seven appointees they’ve been blocking. But if this report is true, that was a lie. According to Politico, Reid not only demands Republicans surrender on the threat of filibustering current nominees, but that Republicans promise to never use the filibuster against any of Obama’s appointments in the future.

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/07/1...on-filibuster/