Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), a leading champion of filibuster reform, issued a statement Thursday lamenting Republican efforts to perform an unprecedented filibuster against a cabinet-level nominee, Chuck Hagel.
“Merely weeks after the Senate came together in a good-faith effort to fix the Senate’s problems, Senate Republicans are now engaging in the first-ever filibuster of a Secretary of Defense nominee,” said Merkley said in a statement. “It is deeply disappointing that even when President Obama nominates a former conservative colleague of the GOP caucus, the minority is abusing the rules and the spirit of ‘advise and consent.’ If our step we took last month is to be successful, extraordinary stunts like today’s filibuster can’t happen.”
