On Wednesday’s show, guest host Ari Melber and the panel discussed the current standoff on Capitol Hill over UN Ambassador Susan Rice’s possible nomination as Secretary of State in the second Obama administration.
Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have threatened to filibuster Rice if she is nominated. The problem?
The Senators need to line up some more support from their colleagues. According to msnbc.com’s Zachary Roth’s reporting, of 42 GOP senators questioned, only four committed to opposing Rice while only one other senator—John Barrasso of Wyoming—said that he’d join McCain and Graham’s call for a filibuster.
In addition to McCain and Graham, the four GOP senators currently on record as opposing Rice are: Sen. John Cornyn R-TX), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), and Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID). Six senators is far from the 40 needed to mount a successful filibuster under Senate rules.
“It seems like the Republican line is not holding on this, ” Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith said. “I think she makes it.”









