Good Deal

Although you’ll find few more determined opponents of the filibuster than me, I’m actually quite a bit more positive about the deal today than Erik is.  First, breaking the Republican nullification and getting Cordray approved is far from trivial — not only in itself, but because it was crucial to get the CFPB up and running and properly established.  And second, going forward the key takeaway here is that the Democratic threat was credible enough to force the Republicans to cave.  So while this doesn’t end the filibuster on executive appointments, it does quite clearly alter it, because finally the Democratic majority in the Senate was willing to blow it up.  So either there will be substantially less abuse of the filibuster, or it’s gone.  Perhaps not the best-case scenario, but that’s a major win and a good sign.