Paula Dwyer , Columnist

Reid Was Smart to Drop 'Nuclear Option'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the right moves on filibuster reform.

January 25, 2013 at 6:05 PM UTC

Paula Dwyer is a senior editor with the New York editing hub, focusing on daily and long-form enterprise. She was London bureau chief for Businessweek and Washington economics editor for the New York Times, and is a co-author of “Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future.

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The filibuster reforms the U.S. Senate adopted last night are a bitter disappointment to liberal lawmakers and interest groups. They made the mistake of believing the threat by Majority Leader Harry Reid to use the nuclear option and ram through more radical Senate rules with a simple majority of 51 Democrats.

Reid never really wanted to use the nuclear option. He might not have had the support of enough Democrats to make good on his threat, anyway.