Reid promises filibuster reform - "Next Congress, we are going to take a look at it."

[jefferson_dem]

Reid promises filibuster reform

"The filibuster has been abused," Sen. Harry Reid said at a reporter's briefing this afternoon. "But next Congress, we are going to take a look at it. And we're going to make some changes in it.”

Reid wasn't very clear about what changes he'd make, or how he'd make them. But Reid (and, in separate comments, Sen. Debbie Stabenow) spoke much more about the time that filibusters consume than the supermajority requirement they impose. "I file cloture" -- the motion to end a filibuster -- "to move to discuss the bill on Monday," Reid explained. "That takes two days to ripen. We don't have a vote till Wednesday. Once that's done, Republicans have 30 hours to do nothing. After the 30 hours is up, you're on the bill. If there's no amendment offered" -- remember, amendments can be filibustered, too -- "you file cloture to move to the vote. It takes two days and then another 30 hours. So that's 60 hours plus four days to vote on the bill. That happened 67 times last year." You do the math.

Stabenow made a similar point to explain why there are 83 nominees pending before the body. It's not that these nominees don't have the votes, she argued. It's that the Senate doesn't have the time to spend a week waiting for the cloture motions that would allow each one a vote. "If we do," Stabenow said, "we won't have time to do anything else."

Reid has not traditionally been a friend of Senate reform. Recently, he poured cold water on the idea of changing the rules by saying that rule changes require 67 votes, which Democrats certainly cannot muster. But as Huffington Post's Sam Stein notes, Reid's pointed mention of the "next Congress" might be important here. "Changing the rules at the beginning of the 112th Congress will require the chair to declare the Senate is in a new session and can legally draft new rules," explains Stein. "That ruling would be made by Vice President Joe Biden, who has spoken out against the current abuse of the filibuster. The ruling can be appealed, but that appeal can be defeated with a simple majority vote."

This interpretation was given further force when Sen. Chuck Schumer spoke later in the session. "My committee, the Rules Committee, is going to look at this," he said. And one of the angles they plan to explore is that "the Constitutional right of the Senate to make its own rules supersedes the two-thirds rule, but only when we write new rules at the beginning of each Congress."

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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/reid_promises_filibuster_refor.html

[ShortnFiery]

1. Next Congress, Democrats will NOT be in the majority. Especially if we let the corporate democrats

force through this shitty Senate Bill as is. :shrug:

[IndianaGreen]

13. Next Congress we will have Durbin or Schumer as Democratic leaders

Harry Reid will be gone back to Nevada.

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. Spineless might actually be correct here.

Next congress..... when there's hopefully an actual LEADER in the Senate.

[LakeSamish706]

3. Yep, I would suggest it's not the filibuster thats the problem here, more like

a missing spine.

[DFW]

4. I have an alternative suggestion

Don't wait until the next Congress.

DO IT NOW. Start tomorrow morning.

[Autumn]

5. Good luck with that Reid,

I just don't believe that if you are lucky enough to get another majority you will do any thing with that one either.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Yep. Gunna take a look. Next year. Later.

Gunna look at this and explore. Then talk. But not now. Later.

I wonder, have they looked at talking about exploring this or did they just talk about looking at it? Was there any exploration of looking at talking about this? I get the later part, meaning not now, meaning eventually, but all that looking, talking, exploring, what order does that come in again?

[WI_DEM]

7. To change the rules they need 67 votes--good luck.

[denimgirly]

8. LOL.

[PVnRT]

9. Manana, manana, manana

[AlinPA]

10. "We"? Reid will be in Nevada during the next congress. He's finished. nt

[warm regards]

11. Huh…? I don't think "we" is going to include you, Harry.

[Clio the Leo]

12. Hope this isn't just campaign posturing...

... and that there is a legit plan to try to implement Harkin's bill.

[O is 44]

14. Why wasn't this done at the start of "09"? n/t

[Raineyb]

15. Whatever. Like I'm going to believe a word out of any of their lying mouths at this point. n/t

[MadHound]

16. Stupidity and spinelessness all in one utterance.

That's why you're going home Harry.

[unhappycamper]

17. Here's a change for you:

Make the fuckers stand up and talk or read the phone book or the bible or a technical manual. Make sure the C-SPAN cameras are rolling as long as they are filibustering. That should go over well...