Discovery Sr. Fellow John Wohlstetter comments on passage of the Senate version of health care this morning (60-39, with no Republican votes):
"This exchange between Sen Jim DeMint (R-NC) and the Senate parliamentarian
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"Reid's parliamentary gambit depends upon whether courts will hold as merely procedural--and thus solely a matter of Senate concern--the erecting of a super-voting barrier to future legislative rescission of the new rule. Courts may instead find that it is unconstitutional.
"I have not seen court rulings on this point. But it seems hard to credit any legal argument that enables a current House of Congress to bar future Houses from reconsideration, via a super-majortiy vote. Put simply, the current Congress cannot diminish the power of subsequent Congresses to rescind legislation.
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"Perhaps judicial imperialists will ignore this. But the effort must be made. A precedent like this will permanently disempower future legislative powers in a fashion never contemplated by the Framers."Â
