{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=2f3da5d7-fcbd-4f49-b651-3ad75f6ea40f", "Alexander: \u201cThe Most Dangerous and Consequential Change in the Rules of the Senate Since Thomas Jefferson Wrote Those Rules\u201d", "2013-11-21", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "www.alexander.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Says \u201cnuclear option\u201d is \u201cObamacare II\u2026 another example of the use of raw partisan political power\u201d\r\n***\r\n\u201cThe American people, millions of them, are filling out their insurance forms, they\u2019re trying to make the web site work, they're terrified by the fact they may not have insurance by January 1. That\u2019s totally the result of a partisan political power grab in the middle of the night three years ago that put Obamacare into place. This is another example of that. The only cure for that is a referendum next November.\u201d \u2013 Lamar Alexander\u00a0\r\nWASHINGTON, Nov. 21 \u2013 U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, with the support of Senate Democrats, has \u201cwritten the end of the United States Senate\u201d by using the \u201cnuclear option\u201d to get rid of the filibuster on presidential nominations.\r\nAlexander said the decision to break Senate rules so that it takes only a simple majority \u2013 instead of 60 votes under a filibuster \u2013 for an up-or-down vote on nominations is \u201cObamacare II.\u201d He noted that Obamacare was passed on a strictly partisan vote, and that the American people are unhappy with it today.\r\n\u201cThis is very simply another partisan political power grab to permit the majority to do whatever it wants to do any time it wants to do it,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cThe American people, millions of them, are filling out their insurance forms, they\u2019re trying to make the web site work, they're terrified by the fact they may not have insurance by January 1. That\u2019s totally the result of a partisan political power grab in the middle of the night three years ago that put Obamacare into place. This is another example of that.\u201d\r\nAlexander continued, \u201cThe only cure for that is a referendum next November. I deeply regret the action the Democratic majority took today. It is the most dangerous and the most consequential change in the rules of the United States Senate since Thomas Jefferson wrote those rules at the founding of our country.\u201d\r\nAlexander said Democratic Leader Harry Reid has previously warned against getting rid of the filibuster for presidential nominations, because it would lead to getting rid of it for legislation and be \u201cthe end of the United States Senate.\u201d The Senate, Alexander said, is supposed to guard against the \u201ctyranny of the majority,\u201d as Alexis de Tocqueville put it, by forcing the majority in the Senate and the president to work with the minority toward a consensus.\r\n\u00a0\r\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=2f3da5d7-fcbd-4f49-b651-3ad75f6ea40f"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7585471030324697, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}