Filibuster Reform

111th Senate Breaks A Filibuster Record

Brian Beutler | December 23, 2010, 9:24AM

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV)

If you're wondering why Dems are all of a sudden smitten with the idea of reforming Senate rules, check out this chart, passed along by a Democratic source.

Over the last two years, Dems broke more filibusters than any Senate in recorded history. In fact the only other Senate that comes close was the last Senate, right after the GOP lost its controlling majority on the Hill.

Read more »

Dick Durbin

Durbin Backs Filibuster Reform

Brian Beutler | July 28, 2010, 5:56PM

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

The Senate's second highest ranking Democrat lent his support today to a growing effort, spearheaded by more junior members, to eliminate or diminish the power of the minority to enforce a 60 vote requirement on Senate business.

"I think there is a high level of frustration and a feeling that we missed many opportunities," Durbin told reporters this afternoon, in response to a question from TPMDC. "And also a lot of us have been completely worn down by a requirement of 60 votes on everything. This was rare when I got here 14 years ago and now it is rare otherwise".

Durbin used as an example one of his own initiatives, which was nearly killed by the supermajority requirement.

Read more »

Financial Reform

Dems Overcome GOP Filibuster With 60-40 Vote To Advance Financial Reform

Ben Frumin | May 20, 2010, 2:53PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

When at first you don't succeed...

After failing yesterday to get the 60 votes they needed to bring debate on a historic financial reform bill to a close, Senate Democrats succeeded in this afternoon's cloture vote.

The final vote today was 60-40 (yesterday it was 57-42). Next up is a final vote on passage, which is expected to take place within days.

Read more »

Financial Reform

Vote To End Debate On Financial Reform Falls Short In Senate

Ben Frumin | May 19, 2010, 4:38PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Democrats failed this afternoon to get the 60 votes they needed to end debate on the financial reform bill.

Two Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats. But with multiple Democrats voting against cloture, and another absent, the Democrats fell just short. The final vote was 57-42.

Read more »

Jobs

Jobs Bill Passes Major Hurdle After 5 GOPers Join Dems

Ben Frumin | February 22, 2010, 5:47PM

Sens. Harry Reid and Dick Durbin

Five Republicans joined Democrats in a key cloture vote moments ago, allowing debate on a jobs package to move forward. After overcoming this hurdle, debate on the bill can begin.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) broke with his party and voted with the Democrats. So did Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Kit Bond (R-MO) and George Voinovich (R-OH).

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) was the only Democrat to break with his party.

The final vote tally was 62-30.

It had been uncertain earlier in the day whether any Republicans would help Democrats reach 60 votes and overcome the threat of a GOP filibuster. With Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) out of the Senate after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, Democrats needed at least two Republican votes to overcome a GOP filibuster threat.

Read more »

Cloture

The Rise Of Cloture: How GOP Filibuster Threats Have Changed The Senate

Ben Frumin and Jason Reif | January 27, 2010, 12:51PM

While Republicans spent the last several months threatening to filibuster the Democrats' health care reform bill in the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scrambled to secure 60 votes -- only to have the whole fragile arrangement blow up when Republican Scott Brown won the Massachusetts senate election last week -- we kept hearing that the relatively recent rise in filibuster threats was a bipartisan phenomenon. Both parties are guilty of this when they're in the minority, we heard.

It's true that there has been a decades-long uptick in the use of cloture filings -- often to overcome filibuster threats -- by whichever party is in the majority, but the best measurement of that trend shows an explosion since Republicans were consigned to minority status after the 2006 election.

Read more »

CBO

No Room For Error If Senate To Pass Health Care Before Christmas

Brian Beutler | December 18, 2009, 9:05AM

Democratic Senators Harry Reid, Chris Dodd and Tom Harkin

With no bill or CBO score in hand, a maximum of 57 committed "yes" votes when he needs 60, and 90 to 100 hours of procedural down time ahead of him before he can finally hold an up-or-down, majority-rules vote on health care, it seems virtually impossible that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be able to pass a reform bill by Christmas.

But Senate leadership aides say it could happen, if everything goes according to plan.

Early this morning--in a rare 1 a.m. vote--Democrats invoked cloture on a defense spending bill. Unless Republicans cede back some time, Senate rules allow them to eat up 30 hours debating that bill before it can pass...at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Then it's back to health care.

"Following passage of the DoD bill, Reid would file cloture on the manager's amendment, substitute amendment and the underlying bill on health care," reads an outline provided yesterday afternoon by a senior Senate aide. "This would set up the first cloture vote on the manager's amendment on Monday morning at 1 am."

Read more »

AARP

AARP To Reid: Congrats On Your Bill, But We're Still Thinking

Brian Beutler | November 21, 2009, 3:12PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

The good folks at AARP endorsed the House health care bill, and it seems likely that they'll do the same with the Senate bill. But they're not ready just yet. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid obtained by TPMDC, AARP CEO Addison Barry Rand says the senior citizens association wants tonight's vote to succeed, but is still evaluating the proposal.

"This comprehensive, health reform legislation moves us one important step closer to enacting historic legislation to control skyrocketing costs, improve quality and expand access to affordable care," the letter reads. "We strongly urge the Senate to vote for cloture this Saturday to begin debate on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.... After further analysis, we will send you a more detailed letter of our views of the legislation."

You can read the entire thing here.