LETTER: The facts about Harry Reid, the filibuster and the Supreme Court
As a historian, Victor Davis Hanson should know more about how to do research (Sunday column). Referring to Donald Trump’s appointment of three Supreme Court justices, Mr. Hanson writes that the president “was empowered to do so after Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid changed the Senate rules in 2013, reducing the threshold for approval of executive and judicial nominees from 60 votes to 51.” He then goes on to say that Mr. Reid took Democratic control for granted.
Actually, Mr. Reid excluded the Supreme Court from the changes to which Mr. Hanson refers. In 2017, his successor as majority leader, Mitch McConnell, extended the rule to the Supreme Court.
In addition, Mr. Hanson may not realize that, as leaders, Mr. Reid and Mr. McConnell owed their positions to their party caucuses, which had to agree on an action. Neither did this by himself.
Further, Mr. Reid understood, contrary to Mr. Hanson’s claims, that Republicans might someday have power and predicted that, if they did, they would go farther — as they did.
