All Democratic senators returning next year have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to consider action to change long-sacrosanct filibuster rules.
The letter, delivered this week, expresses general frustration with what Democrats consider unprecedented obstruction and asks Reid to take steps to end those abuses. While it does not urge a specific solution, Democrats said it demonstrates increased backing in the majority for a proposal, championed by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and others, weaken the minority’s ability to tie the Senate calendar into parliamentary knots.
Among the chief revisions that Democrats say will likely be offered: Senators could not initiate a filibuster of a bill before it reaches the floor unless they first muster 40 votes for it, and they would have to remain on the floor to sustain it. That is a change from current rules, which require the majority leader to file a cloture motion to overcome an anonymous objection to a motion to proceed, and then wait 30 hours for a vote on it.
“There need to be changes to the rules to allow filibusters to be conducted by people who actually want to block legislation instead of people being able to quietly say ‘I object’ and go home,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
This year, McCaskill lined up backing from more than two-thirds of senators for elimination of secret holds, which allow a senator to block action on a bill or nomination anonymously. She said that Democrats will also push plans to force senators who place holds to do it publicly.
Both of those are great ideas frankly. They should have been done two years ago. I can only imagine the kind of things that could have been passed if there had been real changes to the filibuster.
Col. Mustard on the other hand believes there's no way this will happen, because Democrats will be in the permanent minority come 2012 or something and will have no way to stop the Republicans if they give up the filibuster now.
We'll see what the Democrats propose.
The problem isn't really with the filibuster.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the GOP has decided that since their members and backer will barely feel the damage from stopping the legislative process from moving forward, there is no reason not to do it, when you know that the other side is desperate to get things back on track in order to avoid disaster.
The Republicans are delaying anything until their members get brought in, and then they will have the strength to push the handful of conservative Dems still left into coalition to push their own policies, despite the fact that most of these policies are, at best hypocritical grabs at federal pork, and at worst incredibly stupid and damaging to the public at large.
I don't care if the filibuster exists or not; I care that the Republican leadership are fixated on a Phyrric victory until they can get their hands on the WH again - then they can really turn on the crazy.
True. You can make the argument that filibuster reform right now will be pointless because the Republicans will just use the House to make sure nothing remotely progressive passes.
ReplyDeleteI think it needs to be done, however.