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The Byron York Show

When Democrats attack democracy

The Byron York Show

Radio America

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2023

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The United States Constitution and all the state constitutions establish legislatures and give those legislatures the authority to set their own rules. The constitutions also give lawmakers the authority to punish members for violating those rules.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, and welcome to the Byron York Show, the no-chit chat podcast.

0:06.6

We like to get right into it, and what we're going to get into today is what you might

0:11.0

call what happens when Democrats attack democracy.

0:18.6

The U.S. Constitution and all of the state constitutions establish legislatures, and they

0:26.5

give the legislatures the authority to set their own rules, and the constitutions also

0:33.1

give lawmakers the authority to punish members for violating those rules.

0:40.3

So rules are extremely important.

0:42.5

They make a legislature run, and that's why party leaders always stack their rules committees

0:50.4

with lawmakers who they are sure to side with the party on any given heated dispute.

0:58.7

You may remember Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker, widely celebrated, widely regarded

1:05.1

as a master of using the rules to further her party's ends.

1:10.3

Well, she did it by crafting the rules to her advantage.

1:18.0

Look to January 2021, it was the beginning of her last term as Speaker, and she introduced

1:24.1

a series of rules changes, she called them reforms, that severely limited the rights of the

1:29.9

minority, that would be Republicans in this case, the rights of the minority to offer amendments

1:36.1

to bills.

1:37.1

I'm going to read to you something from the Wall Street Journal editorial page at the

1:40.8

time about what Pelosi proposed to do and what she did.

1:45.7

The rules all but eliminate what is called the motion to recommit.

1:50.8

This legislative tool has existed since the first Congress, and for nearly 90 years it

1:56.7

has allowed the minority party to offer the last amendment to legislation.

2:02.7

The motions typically fail, but they are a way for the minority to highlight and provoke

...

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