This is the “nuclear option” of legislative strategy, a total war approach to policymaking that eliminates the possibility of the bipartisan agreement that used to characterize the upper house.
As they consider Kennedy’s demand, the Republican caucus is clearly tense. The institutionalists on one side worry that if these unwritten rules are broken, there would be a race to the bottom, with each successive majority using reconciliation to crush the opposition until the Senate and the House of Representatives are identical. The activists and firebrands on the opposing side contend that unilateral disarmament is a surefire way to bring about political extinction because the other side has already breached the rules. Kennedy is a solid member of the latter group, seeing the parliamentarian’s mysterious decisions as a challenge that must be overcome by whatever means necessary rather than as a barrier.
