Durbin Warns Republicans Against Their Plan To Overrule The Senate Parliamentarian
Durbin: “Should my Senate Republican colleagues overrule the Parliamentarian, it will have major long-term impacts for the Senate and the legislative filibuster.”
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today cautioned his Senate Republican colleagues from overruling a decision by the Senate Parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which would eliminate longstanding guardrails and pave the way for a future Senate majority to overrule the Parliamentarian to achieve its partisan goals.
Last month, the Senate Parliamentarian, after analyzing the GAO’s opinion, ruled that Senate Republicans cannot use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn a waiver granted to California by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate its own vehicle emissions. Republicans are attempting to block a California law requiring all new cars sold in the State by 2035 to be zero-emission vehicles.
“That’s right—despite claims of being the party of states’ rights, Republicans want to end this state-level regulation in the state of California. And get this: Elon Musk, the un-elected advisor to the President, previously wrote to the EPA in favor of California’s waiver. Now, he has joined the Republican majority to try to gut the rule,” Durbin said. “The Parliamentarian’s decision was not one of party loyalty. It followed decades of precedent showing that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to the Congressional Review Act. Despite the Parliamentarian’s decision, my Senate Republican colleagues want to override the GAO and the Senate Parliamentarian to advance the fossil-fuel agenda. It’s ‘burn, baby, burn,’ ‘drill, baby, drill.’”
Durbin continued, “Now, I understand that using the CRA might be faster than agency rulemaking or even considering legislation… In fact, President Trump, in his first term, took administrative action to rescind California’s Clean Air Act waivers and could take that path again. But what Republicans are pursuing today is a procedural nuclear option—a dramatic break from Senate precedent with a profound consequence. Let me repeat: Should my Senate Republican colleagues overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, it will have a major long-term impact for the Senate and the legislative filibuster.”
Durbin noted that this move by Senate Republicans is unprecedented—the Senate has never overruled the Parliamentarian regarding the CRA.
“And before, when the tables were turned and the Senate Democrats were in the majority, my Republican colleagues were singing a very different tune about never breaking from the Parliamentarian,” Durbin said. “Leader Thune himself acknowledged in January of this year that overruling the Parliamentarian is ‘totally akin to killing the filibuster. We can’t go there. People need to understand that.’”
Durbin concluded, “If Senate Republicans disregard the Parliamentarian’s decision, they would set a new precedent in the Senate: eliminating longstanding guardrails and paving the way for a future Senate majority to overrule the Parliamentarian to achieve its partisan goals. I caution my Senate Republican colleagues from toeing this line and setting the wrong precedent. And as I’ve said time and time again—there cannot be one set of rules for Republicans of the Senate and another set of rules for the Democrats. I hope my Republican colleagues will heed my warning and make the right choice—the only choice—accept the GAO and the Senate Parliamentarian’s decision.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
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