It looks like Republicans are still working hard to derail financial reform in the Senate.
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) says Republicans are anonymously blocking a vote on his tough-on-Wall-Street amendment — and the amendments of other progressive Democrats. So he’s now objecting to proceed with any amendments until Republicans stop their obstructionism.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) still wants to proceed. But it appears as if Dorgan’s objecting to all amendments until there’s a resolution.
Meanwhile, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) told TPMDC that proceedings have fallen “off a cliff.”
“So we were going along very well, we were smooth sailing, we were having an open amendment process, Democrats were voting for some Republican amendments, and a few Republicans were voting for Democratic amendments,” McCaskill said. “I hope I’m wrong, but if all of a sudden the other side is saying we’re going to change the game now and now that we’ve gotten all these Republican amendments voted on, we’re not going to let any more of the Democratic substantive amendments come up.”
Previously, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had predicted that several Republicans would break with their party tomorrow morning and thwart a potential filibuster.
“A number of senators, Republican senators, have told me they will vote for cloture,” Reid said.
Reporting by Brian Beutler.
