Filibuster Reform

Tom Harkin Looks To Courts To Reform The Filibuster

Brian Beutler | January 28, 2011, 9:43AM

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a long-time advocate of filibuster reform, was the lone senior senator to publicly align himself with Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in their effort to change the Senate's rules.

Those efforts were neutered this week by the leaders of both parties. With the exception of some modest tweaks, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) agreed that the rules would remain largely unchanged. Beyond that, though,they shook hands and agreed that for the next several years, neither party will attempt to change the filibuster rules on a majority-vote basis -- what's known as the "Constitutional option."

Under these circumstances, Harkin has given up hope that the Senate will ever reassess itself, and is looking to the courts to step in and shake things up.

"It's clear now that the Senate can not change its rules," Harkin told me in an interview Thursday evening. "It can not."

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Filibuster Reform

Filibuster Reform Effort Falls Short In Senate

Brian Beutler | January 25, 2011, 6:02PM

Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)

An effort to change the Senate's filibuster rules on a majority-vote basis ended Tuesday evening under growing pressure from Democratic and Republican party leaders.

In its place, senators from both parties will soon consider a bipartisan framework, negotiated by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN), which include a handful of more modest reforms.

"We don't have an agreement yet," Alexander told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "We're still having discussions. Several of our members, and several Democratic members still have decisions to make. And when we finish, Senator Reid and Senator McConnell will go to the floor and announce an agreement when there is an agreement.

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Filibuster Reform

Senators Near Consensus On Filibuster Reform Alternative

Brian Beutler | January 24, 2011, 12:41PM

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

A quick update on the substance, as opposed to the process, of filibuster reform in the Senate.

Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) will pick up where he left off in pursuit of his filibuster reform proposals when the Senate reconvenes this week. But parallel negotiations between Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) on a more modest rules reform framework are ongoing. And there's emerging consensus on three flanks.

New to that slate, according to a Senate aide, is a proposal to that would forbid "individual senators [from forcing] the reading of certain pieces of legislation, if they've been posted for certain periods of time." There's still no clarity on what categories of legislation would be exempted from this, or how long they'd have to be public.

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Filibuster Reform

Joe Biden: The Key To Filibuster Reform?

Brian Beutler | January 24, 2011, 10:50AM

Vice President Biden

This week, a group of Democratic filibuster reformers will face the first big test of their effort to invoke the "Constitutional Option" -- a process by which members can change the Senate rules by a majority vote. The theory underlying their efforts is that the previous Senate's rules aren't really valid until the new Senate has intentionally adopted them.

That's leading to confusion over whether they're truly on the path to invoking the Constitutional Option -- and that, in turn, means Vice President Joe Biden might have to weigh in and settle the dispute.

Here's the issue under contention.

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CT-SEN

CT-SEN Candidate Chris Murphy: 'The Filibuster Is In Dire Need Of Reform'

Eric Kleefeld | January 20, 2011, 4:32PM

Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT)

On a conference call with reporters this afternoon, Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) laid out some key priorities of his newly-launched campaign for the Senate seat held by retiring independent Sen. Joe Lieberman -- with filibuster reform being one of his top concerns.

Murphy said that during his travels throughout his House district, "I've heard a real frustration with the U.S. Senate, and how it too often stands as an unjustifiable barrier to positive change." He said that his campaign would discuss issues such as the economy, but also reforming the Senate so it is no longer, in Murphy's words, "an old boys' club" that stops progress on key issues.

"Part of the reason that reform can't occur in the Senate is because of the way they do business," Murphy laster said, during the Q&A. "The filibuster is in dire need of reform. Whether or not it needs to go away, we need to reform the way the filibuster is used, so it is not used in the order of everyday policy, but is only used in exceptional circumstances."

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Eric Cantor

Republicans Discover Their Love For Filibuster Reform -- House Republicans, That Is

Brian Beutler | January 19, 2011, 11:01AM

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Senate Democrats who want to reform the filibuster may have found an unlikely ally: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA).

"I've got a problem with the assumption here that somehow the Senate can be a place for legislation to go into a cul-de-sac or dead end," Cantor told reporters this morning.

He's referring specifically, of course, to the Repealing the Job Killing Health Care Law Act, which the House will pass tonight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says the bill is a partisan exercise, and a non-starter -- thus, Cantor and other Republicans want the upper chamber to discover its populist side.

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Filibuster Reform

Republicans 'Giddy' About One Proposed Filibuster Reform

Brian Beutler | January 7, 2011, 1:26PM

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

In a bid to attract Republican support for filibuster reform, Democrats led by Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Jeff Merkley have proposed a new rule that would guarantee the minority party the chance to offer three amendments to any legislation.

It may have worked too well. A senior Senate Republican leadership aide says GOP members would be "giddy" if they were given that right.

Here's why. Those amendments would be filibuster-proof -- among the only pieces of legislation in all the Senate to enjoy that privilege -- and would therefore be a recipe for poison pill amendments on both sides.

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Filibuster Reform

How Senate Filibuster Reform Could Invite A Flood Of Poison Pills

Brian Beutler | January 6, 2011, 9:25AM

Harry Reid (D-NV)

A provision in a new package of Senate filibuster reforms meant to protect the minority from the majority's power has supporters both on and off the Hill nervous about its potential to invite poison pills.

One of the GOP's main criticisms of Harry Reid's leadership is that he too often "fills the amendment tree," which essentially eliminates the minority's power to offer amendments. To address that, reform leaders Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) included a measure in their rules package that would have guaranteed the majority and the minority votes on three germane amendments, regardless of whether the "amendment tree" was otherwise filled.

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Filibuster Reform

BREAKING: Senate Filibuster Reform Package

Brian Beutler | January 5, 2011, 12:21PM

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

Here are the specific filibuster reforms that Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), will be pushing beginning this afternoon, obtained by TPM. Spoiler: they include at least one little-discussed item meant to appeal to the minority.

As promised, Udall proposes ending secret holds and the right of the minority to filibuster the start of debate, and demanding the "talking" filibuster.

But, according to documents provided by Udall's office in advance of his floor speech, it also includes a proposal that guarantees both parties the right to amend legislation -- limiting the majority leader's power to "fill the amendment tree" and block extended debate.

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Filibuster Reform

Filibuster Reform Effort Kicks Off Today

Brian Beutler | January 5, 2011, 10:43AM

Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)

Today, a number of Democrats will launch their attempt to amend the filibuster.

Wednesday afternoon on the Senate floor, armed with a package of reforms, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) will take the first in a complicated, unusual series of steps that allows a simple-majority of senators to change the Senate rules.

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