Busting the Filibuster: Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin Offers Some Electoral Math
In a new fundraising email to supporters, Family Research Council Vice President Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin (ret.) offers some electoral math that could provide a means of getting the Senate to confirm President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
Currently, the rules of the Senate require 60 votes to invoke cloture and end debate on a Supreme Court nomination, and Republicans hold only 52 seats. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has pledged to “fight tooth and nail” against the president’s nominations, and a number of Democrats have suggested the nomination of 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch has “stolen” what should be D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland’s seat on the high court.
Here’s what Boykin had to say:
Judge Gorsuch’s Senate hearing begins in just a few weeks, and the Democrats know they have the votes to filibuster his confirmation.
Under Senate rules, we need a 60-vote supermajority to shut down any filibuster attempts.
We have 52 Republican votes in favor of Judge Gorsuch, but given that Democrats have threatened to make this a contested, intense and difficult judicial confirmation, we must get eight Democrats to join the Republicans.
With time quickly ticking away, we have got to increase the amount of pressure we’re putting on vulnerable Democrats in the Senate to ensure they can’t filibuster his confirmation.
With Judge Gorsuch’s hearing set to begin on March 20th, we only have a few weeks to convince these vulnerable Democrats to vote with the Republicans.
But, here’s the good news …
… 10 of the 25 Democrats up for re-election in 2018 are from states that President Trump won.
This means that their voters overwhelmingly supported the new administration and adamantly rejected the failed liberal policies of President Obama… so they won’t be very happy if their sitting senator votes to block President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
That’s what gives me some hope that we can get at least eight of these 10 Democrats to vote with Republicans, but … it won’t happen by itself.
As the legislative affiliate of the Family Research Council, FRC Action has been one of the strongest rallying forces of the pro-family conservative grassroots for decades.
But we’ve never seen a fight like this in Washington.
While there are 10 vulnerable Democrats who should vote against a filibuster, radical, anti-family liberals like Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders are in the ears of these senators.
They’re promising them bright futures in the Democrat Party if they vote to filibuster Judge Gorsuch. They want to stop the pro-family agenda the American people voted for overwhelmingly last November.
That’s exactly why we’re going to need all the financial support we can raise to fund the social media outreach campaigns, phone calls and online petition drives, visits with Senate offices and on-the-ground education efforts that will secure confirmation for Judge Gorsuch.
Judge Gorsuch has built his career on upholding the law, regardless of his personal opinions.
He is universally respected as a man of honor and integrity.
But none of that matters to the Democrats.
They are doing everything they can to filibuster his nomination and block Judge Gorsuch from reaching the Supreme Court … just because they want to dig in their heels and stop President Trump from doing what he was elected to do.
Here’s a list of the so-called “vulnerable Democrats”—senators from states that were won by Trump last November:
- Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)—considered the most vulnerable by The Hill newspaper
- Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
- Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
- Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
- Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)
- Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
- Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.)
- Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)
- Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) {eoa}
