Gang Of Fourteen

The Gang of 14 made an agreement whereby the seven Democrats would no longer vote along with their party on filibustering judicial nominees (except in "extraordinary circumstances"), and in turn the seven Republicans would break with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Republican leadership on voting for the "nuclear option." Due to the near-tie in votes between the two parties, the agreement of these Senators practically prevents either side from winning a simple majority to pass either the filibuster or the change to congressional rules. While infuriating their party leaderships, the group members were hailed as moderates who put aside the severe Partisanship to do what was best for the Senate.

The deal has been strongly criticized by both Democratic and Republican partisans. Nevertheless, the compromise precludes further filibusters or the nuclear option for as long as the Gang of 14 holds together.

The name may be loosely derived from the Gang Of Four , a group of Communist Party officials who were accused of abuse of power in China during the 1970s .

MEMBERS

Republicans

John S. McCain III , Arizona

Lindsey O. Graham , South Carolina

John Warner , Virginia

Olympia Snowe , Maine

Susan M. Collins , Maine

R. Michael DeWine , Ohio

Lincoln Chafee , Rhode Island

Democrats

Joseph I. Lieberman , Connecticut

Robert C. Byrd , West Virginia

E. Benjamin Nelson , Nebraska

Mary Landrieu , Louisiana

Daniel Inouye , Hawaii

Mark Pryor , Arkansas

Ken Salazar , Colorado

THE COMPROMISE

Because of the split of the Senate – 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and 1 Democrat-aligned independent – if six Senators from each party could reach an agreement, it was realized that these twelve could both forestall the nuclear option and force Cloture on nominees. With a cloture vote scheduled on the nomination of Priscilla Owen – the opening move in firing the nuclear option – for Tuesday, May 24, 2005, and with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Minority Leader Harry Reid having evidently given up all pretense of finding a compromise (each have been accused of having desired the nuclear showdown for their own political ends), the minds of traditionalists and moderates in both parties were focused on finding some alternative way out. In the end, seven Senators from each party got behind a compromise which stated, in essence, that Democrat filibusters would come to an end in "all but extraordinary circumstances," and the GOP would not use the nuclear option.

The text of the compromise is as follows:

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

We respect the diligent, conscientious efforts, to date, rendered to the Senate by Majority

Leader Frist and Democratic Leader Reid. This memorandum confirms an understanding among

the signatories, based upon mutual trust and confidence, related to pending and future

judicial nominations in the 109th Congress.

This memorandum is in two parts. Part I relates to the currently pending judicial nominees;

Part II relates to subsequent individual nominations to be made by the President and to be

acted upon by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee.

We have agreed to the following:

Part I: Commitments on Pending Judicial Nominations

A. Votes for Certain Nominees. We will vote to invoke cloture on the following judicial

nominees: Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit), William Pryor (11th Circuit), and Priscilla

Owen (5th Circuit).

B. Status of Other Nominees. Signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on

the following judicial nominees: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Saad (6th Circuit).

Part II: Commitments for Future Nominations

A. Future Nominations. Signatories will exercise their responsibilities under the Advice and

Consent Clause of the United States Constitution in good faith. Nominees should be

filibustered only under extraordinary circumstances, and each signatory must use his or her own

discretion and judgment in determining whether such circumstances exist.

B. Rules Changes. In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement,

we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any

amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a

judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII.

We believe that, under Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, the word

“Advice” speaks to consultation between the Senate and the President with regard to the

use of the President’s power to make nominations. We encourage the Executive branch of

government to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior

to submitting a judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration.

Such a return to the early practices of our government may well serve to reduce the rancor

that unfortunately accompanies the advice and consent process in the Senate.

We firmly believe this agreement is consistent with the traditions of the United States

Senate that we as Senators seek to uphold.

RESULTS AND POSSIBLE RESULTS

As a result of the agreement, Priscilla Owen was confirmed 55-43, Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed 56-43, and William Pryor was confirmed 53-45. The other two nominees mentioned, William Myers and Henry Saad , have not yet been confirmed, and the compromise made no promise to invoke cloture on them, indicating that the Gang of Fourteen agreed that these judges met the "extraordinary circumstances" requirement for filibustering.

The immediate and proximate political result was the curtailing of Democratic filibusters and the short-term end to the "nuclear option" debate. Sen. Harry Reid provocatively announced in a speech on the Senate floor that in his view, the Democrats were ''already'' using the filibuster in only "extraordinary circumstances". Equally, a provocative attempt by Sen. Carl Levin to shut the door on the nuclear option by obtaining a ruling from the chair – at that moment, Senator John Sununu – that the filibuster had been yielded as constitutional by the compromise, failed; the Republican leadership, thus, retains the nuclear option. Thus, moderates on both sides have claimed victory, and partisans on both sides have claimed defeat.

The compromise was further tested by the confirmation battle over the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by Sandra Day O'Connor 's retirement. A Number Of Democratic Senators Attempted A Filibuster ; however, the entire Gang of 14 voted for cloture, which passed by 72 to 24 (with 60 "aye" votes needed to end the filibuster). Several members of the Gang of 14 then voted against confirming Alito, including Republican Lincoln Chafee.

For the time being, the forging of the compromise has tilted Senate power towards moderates; Senator Lindsey Graham has suggested that the shift of political center of gravity caused by the emergence of the Gang of 14 could be extended to finding a solution to an issue like the reform of Social Security; Democrats have pledged to block the reforms proposed by President Bush , and both Graham and Olympia Snowe have signalled their opposition to certain aspects of the President's reforms. Whether the remaining 5 Republicans would go along with such an extension is as yet unclear.

EXTERNAL LINKS

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