The push to end the Senate’s much-derided practice of allowing individual members to secretly hold legislation and nominees may come to an end before the year is out. After rounding up 67 signatures on a letter calling for an end to the practice, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) says the technical work of changing the rules will begin in earnest tomorrow—and Democratic leadership has her back.
“[Next comes] testimony in front of the Rules Committee Wednesday morning, and then hopefully they will report out a rule change and we’ll get a chance to vote on it in the next few weeks,” McCaskill told reporters yesterday evening.
Unlike most legislation, which needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, a rules change requires the agreement of two-thirds of the Senate. She nabbed her 67th signatory last week.
“I do think it needs to be a rule, instead of a law, and clearly we have enough votes now, based on the letter that we’ve got 67 folks that say they want to abolish secret holds. Seems to me like it’s time to vote,” McCaskill said.
Last week, Dem leadership threw their lot in with McCaskill. “[Harry Reid] strongly supports Senator McCaskill’s efforts and will work with her to schedule a vote as quickly as possible,” Reid spokesman Jim Manley told the Washington Post.
Like any legislation, a rule change can eat up a significant amount of Senate floor time, so the timing issue is still a big one. And, as McCaskill joked: “The question is will someone secretly hold it.”
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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