The Rachel Maddow Show   |  January 04, 2013

For Congress, more first day tomorrow

Rachel Maddow explains why the sun setting on the first day of the new Congress is not technically the end of first day of the new Congress.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

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>>> here is something i did not see coming. the first day of the new congress was yesterday, right? and we have been saying for months that on the first day of the new congress, and only on that day, the senate could change the rules that governs that body, including maybe reforming the filibuster rule, which republicans have been using to require a super majority for pretty much everything in washington for years now. well, that is still true. a rules change with just a majority vote to make that change, that really can only happen on the first day of the new congress. but the reason you didn't hear anything about the rules being changed yesterday on day one of the new congress is that harry reid decided to redefine what counts as day one of the new congress. he redefined the first day of the legislative session. the first day will now last until, quote, later this month. which is most likely january 22nd . it started yesterday. it goes on for a while. so you did not remember that detail wrong. it was day one starting yesterday. but so far there has not been the day one vote on filibuster changes, and that still might happen.

>>> also, while we're talking about the political and news calendar, this is tentative as yet, but chuck todd of nbc news is reporting that interested parties have been given a heads-up that hbo is likely to make his nomination for the next secretary of defense on tuesday. maybe monday, but probably tuesday. the smart money in washington says that the nomination is going 20 be former republican senator chuck hagel . while that is the smart money in washington , it is not the only money, and it is not a sure thing. and the reasons it's not a sure thing turn out to be fascinating. that