I believe "the nuclear option" has sometimes, at least, been used to refer to this maneuver.

The problem in this case is that apparently there aren't enough Democratic votes to pass the American Jobs Act on an up-or-down majority vote if the Republicans don't block one.  At least not as of last night.  McConnell, knowing this, was seeking to force a vote on AJA last night that would have failed, embarrassed the Democrats, and cut the ground out from under Obama's press for Congress to pass this legislation now.

There have been and hopefully still are efforts to tweak AJA in a way that would permit it to pass on a majority vote with Democratic votes alone.  It makes me crazy that the Senate Democrats cannot muster 51 votes for this bill.  That just gives legitimacy to the arguments of all those saying there's no real differences of any consequence between the parties when in fact the Democrats are close to having the votes to pass it whereas not a single Republican likely will vote for it..  

If this bill fails in the Senate for lack of a majority, without forcing the Republicans to block it and therefore own that failure, then unfortunately those arguments will remove one good reason to vote for Democrats next November.  Voters will be able to say: Democrats have the majority in the Senate, they try to blame Republicans for failure to permit anything to be done about the jobs crisis, but they don't even have the votes to pass the AJA in the Senate by majority vote.  So it's all a bunch of convenient posturing by the Democrats.  So the argument will go.

I wrote one of my Senators, Warner, last night.  I gave my substantive reasons why I think this bill needs to pass right now.  And I also implored him to work with his  Democratic caucus colleagues to do what is necessary to get majority votes to pass this bill, right now.  Or else I fear a dismal election outcome.  His reputation as a moderate who craves bipartisanship positions him well to do that if he so chooses.

Apologies in advance to those dag denizens who are turned off by discussions of inside baseball.  But this legislation could at least pass the Senate.  And that would  reinforce instead of undercut the heat the President is applying to Cantor and the Republicans to allow an up or down vote on AJA, instead of blocking it in the House.  

If the Senate passes AJA and the House either blocks it or votes it down, then the full weight of the blame for it going down--for 300,000-400,000 public education employees losing their jobs soon, among other horrible consequences of non-passage--falls squarely on the GOP.  

Some would say that's gamesmanship and posturing.  I'd call it helping the voters know who to hold accountable for Washington's unresponsiveness on jobs, if it comes to that.  And they'll then know how to do that next November.  Our best shot at winning the House back next year.  But the Senate Dems have to stand and deliver.

Okay.

So Reid dusted off the GOPer's tactical political nuke and turn in on them. And the GOPer's where shocked, awed and angered that he and his fellow Democrats had the unmitigated audacity to underhandedly use the GOPer's weapon of mass political destruction on them. Now hand-to-hand political warfare in the halls of congress is all but assured.

My only suggestion for Reid and his fellow Democrats is not to stop here. They can siphon another GOPer weapon of mass political destruction from the GOPer lead state legislatures ... ram thru as many changes as possible before they lose their minor majority. That way if the GOPers do regain the majority, they'll have a full plate of legislation to kill and the Democrats can be just as annoying to the GOPers as they were when the Democrats were the majority.

McConnell and the Republicans have filibustered the AJA.  

They went back to blocking an up-or-down majority vote on AJA. Apparently the "no filibuster" offer was a one-time only offer on an earlier version of the bill which Democrats did not have the votes to pass by majority vote.

They're holding the vote open for Shaheen, who will join with 50 Democrats to allow an up-or-down (majority) vote, making, in effect, a majority in favor of having a majority vote.  

Obama issued a rare statement following the GOP's "successful" attempt to thwart majority rule in the Senate:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
October 11, 2011

Statement by the President on the Senate Vote on the American Jobs Act

Tonight, a majority of United States Senators voted to advance the American Jobs Act.  But even though this bill contains the kind of proposals Republicans have supported in the past, their party obstructed the Senate from moving forward on this jobs bill.

Tonight's vote is by no means the end of this fight.  Independent economists have said that the American Jobs Act would grow the economy and lead to nearly two million jobs, which is why the majority of the American people support these bipartisan, common-sense proposals.  And we will now work with Senator Reid to make sure that the individual proposals in this jobs bill get a vote as soon as possible.

In the coming days, Members of Congress will have to take a stand on whether they believe we should put teachers, construction workers, police officers and firefighters back on the job.  They'll get a vote on whether they believe we should cut taxes for small business owners and middle-class Americans, or whether we should protect tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

With each vote, Members of Congress can either explain to their constituents why they're against common-sense, bipartisan proposals to create jobs, or they can listen to the overwhelming majority of American people who are crying out for action.  Because with so many Americans out of work and so many families struggling, we can't take "no" for an answer.  Ultimately, the American people won't take "no" for an answer.  It's time for Congress to meet their responsibility, put their party politics aside and take action on jobs right now.