Chapter 13
Historical Perspective: Small groups of Senators can have a big influence on policymaking when the margin of control is small. One recent example of this phenomenon involves the “gang of 14” Senators in 2005. With partisan divisions at the boiling point and Democrats consistently filibustering Republican judicial nominees, the Republican majority leaders threatened to change Senate rules to discontinue the filibuster – the so called “nuclear option”.
A bipartisan group of 14 Senators realized that with such a narrow margin of control, neither party could follow through on their threats without their cooperation. The seven Democrats agreed to break with their party on filibusters and the seven Republicans agreed not to vote for the “nuclear option”. Check out the following links for a sense of the historical balance of power in the Senate and more on the Gang of 14.
http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/l/bl_party_division_2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_14
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-february-9-2009/moment-of-zen---joe-lieberman-s-gang
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/08/AR2009070803884.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1933802,00.html
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/26/lieberman-opens-up-about-becoming-an-independent/