President Obama Submits Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty to Senate

Last week, President Obama submitted the Treaty with Russia on Measures for the Further Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms to the U.S. Senate.  Reading it is tough going, given all the technical terminology. A couple of not very profound observation:

1) Is this Treaty self-executing?  For the many pro-self execution folks, the answer should be yes (look at the Supremacy Clause!).  But would that make any legal or practical sense? A modern court would almost certainly say no, and I don’t think most folks would disagree with that result.

2) This is the first major treaty that the Administration has submitted to the Senate. Indeed, it is only the fourth treaty submitted since January 20, 2009, and two of those were protocols to tax conventions, which barely count.  I know folks at State are busy, but what’s the holdup?  Where is, say, The Hague Convention on the Choice of Courts, the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea?  I’m not exactly complaining, but I wonder why the Administration didn’t submit those treaties (or at least one of those treaties) right out of the box back in 2009. It is only going to get harder from here.  Does anyone think Senator Rand Paul is going to vote for any of these?