Harry Reid Chats With CNN’s Jim Acosta About GOP’s Embrace of Trump, Filibuster Reforms, And Expanding Supreme Court
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) offered a blunt assessment of several reforms being considered in Washington, telling CNN’s Jim Acosta that he believed the filibuster was “on its way out,” but urging caution regarding any expansion of the Supreme Court.
Acosta mentioned Reid’s comment earlier in their interview about how he enjoyed making “mischief” for former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), and then asked Reid if he would “like to see the Republican party continue to embrace Donald Trump, and in the way they are right now? Would that be good for the Democrats were they to continue to do that?”
“Yes,” was Reid’s blunt reply.
“Can you expand on that?” Acosta asked.
Reid said that changes that had occurred within the GOP, that they used to define themselves as a party of “conservative thought” and “fiscal integrity,” but “now some of the biggest debts we’ve ever had in this country have been under Republican leadership.”
Where the GOP is right now, explained Reid was “only good for Democrats,” but he viewed it as a temporary situation, noting that while former President Donald Trump “still has a following,” that “won’t last forever.”
Acosta asked Reid about the “dramatic step” he had taken as majority leader in eliminating the filibuster for most presidential nominations. During the Trump presidency, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had also abolished the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations, paving the way for Trump to successfully nominate three new justices on the nation’s highest court. “Do you have any regrets about that?”
“None whatsoever,” replied Reid, noting that the change allowed Democrats “to get so much done that made Obama’s presidency meaningful,” including passing the Affordable Care Act, confirming Obama’s Secretary of Defense and other key cabinet positions.
Acosta then turned to the recent news that President Joe Biden had created a commission to examine the idea of adding seats to the Supreme Court, and asked Reid if he thought that would be a good idea.
“I think we should be very, very careful in doing so,” said Reid. “I have no problem with the commission. But I think that the commission is going to come back and disappoint a lot of people because I think they’re going to come back and say we should just kind of leave it alone.”
Reid added that he thought it would be “inappropriate” to enact term limits for federal judges, and urged caution. “I think we better be very, very careful in saying that we need to expand the Supreme Court.”
Acosta remarked that he thought some people would be surprised to hear Reid say that.
Reid then brought up the filibuster again, saying that it was “on its way out.”
“It’s not a question if. It’s a question when,” said Reid. “You cannot have a democracy that makes 60% of the vote. And so it’s only a question of time until the filibuster goes away.”
“All right, Senator Reid, we’ll see if that happens,” said Acosta. “Thanks so much.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
