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Originally Posted by Bladewire
How do they eliminate the filibuster? What steps do they take? How quickly can it get done?
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The democrats changed the Senate rules to enact what they call "The Nuclear Option." This allows the Senate to approve (or disapprove) cabinet and judicial nominees with a simple majority vote of 51. Normally, it takes 60 votes to approve a nominee.
When Trump takes office the republicans will only have a 51 to 49 advantage in the Senate so the Democrats likely will do some filibustering of nominees. The Senate Republicans can use this option to get around it.
The potential downside is that if one party uses it, especially if they use it regularly, there likely will come a time when they are the minority party and they can then expect to have it used against them.