At a glance: Sen. Harry Reid’s legislative legacy
(NewsNation Now) — Former U.S. Senator Harry Reid was one of the longest-serving Senate majority leaders in U.S. history.
Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, served in the Senate from 1987 to 2017. He was the party’s leader in the chamber from 2007 to 2015.
Between his eight years as majority leader and time as minority leader, Reid led the Senate Democrats for over a dozen years and his impact is evident under the legislation that got passed during his tenure.
Here is Sen. Reid’s legislative legacy at a glance:
- He’s most famous for shepherding through the Affordable Care Act.
- He pushed the Recovery Act through a divided congress during the 2008 recession.
- He ushered in the Dodd-Frank Act that strengthened regulation of Wall Street in light of the financial crisis.
- His most lasting impact politically is his decision in 2013 to “nuke the filibuster,” which essentially led to a rule change that lowered the voting threshold for all confirmations, except supreme court nominees
- One other lasting legacy of Reid’s, was to turn the state of Nevada from a political afterthought to one of three states that has the first say in who will be on the presidential ticket.