АҚШ Сенатындағы қағидаларды өзгерту тәртібі

Parliamentary procedure of the United States Senate invoked to amend rules of discussion

In the United States Senate, the nuclear option is a parliamentary procedure that allows the Senate to override a standing rule by a simple majority, avoiding the two thirds supermajority normally required to invoke cloture on a measure amending the Standing Rules. The term "nuclear option" is an analogy to nuclear weapons being the most extreme option in warfare. The nuclear option can be invoked by a senator raising a point of order that contravenes a standing rule. The presiding officer would then overrule the point of order based on Senate rules and precedents; this ruling would then be appealed and overturned by a simple majority vote (or a tie vote), establishing a new precedent. The nuclear option is made possible by the principle in Senate procedure that appeals from rulings of the chair on points of order relating to nondebatable questions are themselves nondebatable. The nuclear option is most often discussed in connection with the filibuster. Since cloture is a nondebatable question, an appeal in relation to cloture is decided without debate. This obviates the usual requirement for a two thirds majority to invoke cloture on a resolution amending the Standing Rules. The nuclear option was notably invoked on November 21, 2013, when a Democratic majority led by Harry Reid used the procedure to reduce the cloture threshold for nominations, other than nominations to the Supreme Court, to a simple majority. On April 6, 2017, the nuclear option was used again, this time by a Republican majority led by Mitch McConnell, to extend that precedent to Supreme Court nominations, in order to enable cloture to be invoked on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch by a simple majority. The use of the nuclear option to abolish the 60 vote threshold for cloture on legislation has been proposed, but not successfully effected.

Rule XVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate prohibits legislative material from being included in general appropriations bills. In 1995, during consideration of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions for the Department of Defense to Preserve and Enhance Military Readiness Act of 1995, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison offered an amendment that would have changed existing law regarding endangered species, therefore violating Rule XVI. Senator Harry Reid raised a point of order against the amendment, which the chair sustained. Hutchison appealed the ruling of the chair. The Senate voted against sustaining the decision of the chair by a vote of 42–57. The Senate thus set a precedent nullifying the provision of Rule XVI. In 1999, the Hutchison precedent was overturned (and the original effect of Rule XVI restored) when the Senate agreed to , which states:Resolved, That the presiding officer of the Senate should apply all precedents of the Senate under rule 16, in effect at the conclusion of the 103d Congress.

Rule XXVIII, paragraph 3, of the Standing Rules of the Senate prohibits any matter outside the scope of a conference from being included in a conference report. In 1996, during consideration of the conference report on the Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996, Majority Leader Trent Lott raised a point of order that the conference report exceeded the scope of the conference with respect to provisions relating to FedEx. After the point of order was sustained by the chair, Lott appealed the ruling of the chair. The Senate voted against sustaining the decision of the chair by a vote of 39–56. The Senate thus set a precedent nullifying the provision of Rule XXVIII. SEC. 903. Beginning on the first day of the 107th Congress, the Presiding Officer of the Senate shall apply all of the precedents of the Senate under Rule XXVIII in effect at the conclusion of the 103d Congress.

On November 21, 2013, Majority Leader Harry Reid raised a point of order that "the vote on cloture under Rule XXII for all nominations other than for the Supreme Court of the United States is by majority vote." The presiding officer overruled the point of order, and the Senate voted 48–52 against sustaining the decision of the chair. The Senate therefore set a precedent that cloture can be invoked on nominations (except to the Supreme Court) by a simple majority, even though the plain text of the rule requires "three fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn" to invoke cloture. Three Democrats (Carl Levin, Joe Manchin and Mark Pryor) voted with all Republicans in favor of sustaining the decision of the chair. The text of Rule XXII was never changed. Although the 60 vote threshold was eliminated for most nominations, nominations are still susceptible to being delayed by filibusters, and 60 votes were still required to invoke cloture on other questions such as legislation and Supreme Court nominations.

The Democrats' stated motivation for this change was the perceived expansion of filibustering by Republicans during the Obama administration, in particular blocking three nominations to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Republicans had asserted that the D. C. Circuit was underworked, At the time of the vote, 59 executive branch nominees and 17 judicial nominees were awaiting confirmation. Prior to November 21, 2013, there had been only 168 cloture motions filed (or reconsidered) with regard to nominations. Nearly half of them (82) had been during the Obama administration. However, those cloture motions were often filed merely to speed things along, rather than in response to any filibuster. In contrast, there were just 38 cloture motions on nominations during the preceding eight years under President George W. Bush. Most of those cloture votes were successful. Obama won Senate confirmation for 30 out of 42 federal appeals court nominations, compared with Bush's 35 out of 52. Regarding Obama's federal district court nominations, the Senate approved 143 out of 173 as of November 2013, compared to George W. Bush's first term 170 of 179, Bill Clinton's first term 170 of 198, and George H. W. Bush's 150 of 195. Filibusters were used on 20 of Obama's nominations to district court positions, but Republicans had allowed confirmation of 19 out of the 20 before the nuclear option was invoked.

On April 6, 2017, the Republican majority Senate invoked the nuclear option and voted 48–52 along party lines against sustaining the decision of the chair on a point of order raised by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, thus removing the Supreme Court exception created in 2013. This established a new precedent which allowed cloture to be invoked on Supreme Court nominations by a simple majority. The vote came after Senate Democrats filibustered the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States.

On April 3, 2019, in response to a perceived increase in postcloture filibusters by Senate Democrats on President Trump's executive and judicial nominations, the Republican majority Senate voted 51 49 to overturn a ruling of the chair and thus set a precedent that postcloture debate on nominations—other than those to the Supreme Court of the United States, to the United States courts of appeals and to positions at Level I of the Executive Schedule—is two hours. All Republicans except Senators Susan Collins and Mike Lee voted against sustaining the decision of the chair.

Following elimination of the 60 vote rule for nominations in 2013, senators expressed concerns that the 60 vote rule will eventually be eliminated for legislation via the nuclear option. While President, Donald Trump spoke out against the 60 vote requirement for legislation on several occasions. Then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opposed abolishing the filibuster despite Trump's demands, and in April 2017, 61 senators (32 Republicans, 28 Democrats, and one independent) signed a letter stating their opposition to abolishing the filibuster for legislation. On January 21, 2018, Trump said on Twitter that if the shutdown stalemate continued, Republicans should consider the "nuclear option" in the Senate. He repeated the call on December 21, 2018, with a fresh shutdown looming. Concerns about abolishing the filibuster through the nuclear option were reiterated in 2021 as the Democratic majority Senate could attempt to eliminate the filibuster through the nuclear option. On January 3, 2022, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the Senate would vote on using the nuclear option to reform the filibuster in order to pass his party's election reform legislation. On January 19, 2022, Schumer made a point of order that would have allowed a 'talking filibuster' on a voting rights bill without any other dilatory measures. The Senate voted 52–48 to sustain the decision of the chair overruling the point of order. Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema voted with all Republicans in favor of sustaining the decision of the chair.

After the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States, a proposed countermove to increase the size of the Supreme Court past nine seats (and thereby create new vacancies) was also described as a "nuclear option". Beyond the specific context of the U. S. Senate, the term "nuclear option" has come to be used generically for a procedural maneuver with potentially serious consequences, to be used as a last resort to overcome political opposition. The term has been used in connection with procedural maneuvers in various state senates. In a 2005 legal ruling on the validity of the Hunting Act 2004 the UK House of Lords, sitting in its judicial capacity, used "nuclear option" to describe the events of 1832, when the then government threatened to create hundreds of new Whig peers to force the Tory dominated Lords to accept the Reform Act 1832. (Nuclear weapons were not theorized until the 20th century, so the government's threat was not labeled as "nuclear" at the time.)