Facing pressure from lawmakers on the far right who blame the Senate filibuster on their inability to get to advance their agenda, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is forming a new task force to explore changing the filibuster and other Senate procedural rules, The Hill reported Monday.
The committee will be made up of Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), according to The Hill.
Up until this point, McConnell has appeared reluctant to weaken filibuster rules, even as Democrats have effectively blocked the Republican-controlled Senate from voting on key bills through procedural maneuvers.
McConnell was extremely critical of then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV) when in 2013 he invoked the “nuclear option” to dismantle the filibuster for nominations of executive branch and judicial appointees (except for the Supreme Court).
However, the House conservatives who have brought chaos to Capitol in their revolt against GOP leadership have also targeted McConnell for being unwilling to weaken the filibuster and some 2016 GOP candidates have joined in on the pile-on.
“At times, the rules and practices of the Senate have left Americans and members of the Senate deeply frustrated. Senate systems that should serve the nation are currently blocking debate and slowing progress, instead of promoting it,” Lankford told The Hill.
According the Hill, a rift has formed between freshman senators who wish to do away with the filibuster on motions to proceed and veteran Republicans concerned about what happens if Democrats retake the Senate.
Some outside conservative groups have also expressed their concerns.
“The Senate is supposed to be the ‘world’s greatest deliberative body,’ but any weakening of the filibuster will lead us further down a slippery slope where reactionary policies are rammed through the chamber without any serious debate,” Josh Withrow — legislative affairs manager of the Tea Party group FreedomWorks — said in a statement Tuesday.
