The Democratic senator who led the charge to “nuke” a portion of the filibuster in 2013 expressed cautious optimism at the news that Republicans were now taking their own look at tinkering with Senate procedural rules, now that they are in the majority.
In a statement to TPM, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said he was “pleased that the Senate leadership is taking seriously the need to modernize the Senate’s rules to restore the Senate’s ability to debate and deliberate.”
“As I said on the floor recently, with the control of the Presidency and the Senate after 2016 up in the air, now is the perfect time to talk about what rules will make the Senate work better for both the majority and the minority. I look forward to continuing that dialogue,” the statement continued.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has created a taskforce of GOP senators to take a look at tweaking Senate procedural rules so the Republican Senate majority faces fewer obstacles in advancing its legislation. The move was a reversal of sorts, as McConnell has previously been reluctant to weaken the filibuster and slammed then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for dismantling the filibuster for executive and judicial branch nominees (with exception of Supreme Court appointees) in 2013. Now, however, McConnell faces the wrath of a recalcitrant caucus in the House frustrated that their conservative agenda hasn’t been able to overcome Democratic filibusters in the Senate.
Merkley was an outspoken supporter of reforming Senate rules when Democrats were the majority in the upper chamber and faced similar tactics by Republicans.
Nice to see a politician show some integrity by taking a consistent position on this even though his party would gain little from abolishing the filibuster right now.
Glad I voted for him!
So you would be ok taking away a tool from the minority fighting to prevent the horrible agenda of the GOP?
This guy would apparently cut a glory hole in Pandorda’s Box and shove his junk in it.
I mean, sure, he’s not flip flopping, and I understand the idea of 'hey, let’s be part of it rather than let them run away with it by themselves and maybe we can exert some control that way"…but this is not what you do with completely irrational batshit ideologues who have proven time and time and time again that they are simply attempting to abuse our systems of governance to secure permanent power through a plutocratic agenda. Inch = Mile. They’re fucking nuts, out of control, have spent 7 years doing untold damage ON PURPOSE and are racing towards fascism because they believe they are entitled to power and to rule and they see a forthcoming end to their viability on the national stage. He would have been just as consistent to say “I supported it before because they were breaking government via their abuse of the filibuster, but nobody is breaking government right now via abuse of the filibuster.”
That being said, I’m tempted to lean towards the idea that we let them have their year of fun and then take the Senate in November 2016 and start shoving it all right up their fucking ass. Their “fun” in the interim is more than likely to backfire and can be safely vetoed by President Nofucksleft, while it seems we might have a chance at having the Senate and WH next go-around.
I agree with him. Congress is a clogged colon. It needs to function once again. I suspect McTurtle won’t nuke anything. He knows that he won’t be majority leader after Jan 2017 so hes not going to give the Dems too much to work with. But if he helps to dismantle the monster he created then good on him. Obama will veto any bullshit that comes his way.
We can’t have our cake and eat it too now can we? If it was a good idea when Dems held the Senate then it’s a good idea now, especially since Obama has veto power.
I think doing away with or restricting the use of filibusters is a good thing.