Senate Reaches Deal to Limit Blocking Tactics
By CARL HULSE
NYT
The Senate leadership agreed on Thursday to temper some of the procedural tactics that have tied up the chamber for the past two years, and to institute other changes intended to ease gridlock.
The agreement averted a politically charged showdown that was looming over the rules of the Senate. But to do so, it left untouched one of the most contentious blocking tactics, the filibuster, which under the current rules essentially empowers any senator of either party to force the leadership to line up 60 “yes” votes, rather than a simple majority of 51, to advance bills or nominations.
“We want the Senate to move deliberately,” Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, said. “But we want it to move. We have to find a balance that will encourage us to debate and that also enables us to legislate.”
As part of the compromise, Mr. Reid pledged that he would exercise restraint in using his power to block Republicans from trying to offer amendments on the floor, in exchange for a Republican promise to not try to erect procedural hurdles to bringing bills to the floor.
(More here.)
NYT
The Senate leadership agreed on Thursday to temper some of the procedural tactics that have tied up the chamber for the past two years, and to institute other changes intended to ease gridlock.
The agreement averted a politically charged showdown that was looming over the rules of the Senate. But to do so, it left untouched one of the most contentious blocking tactics, the filibuster, which under the current rules essentially empowers any senator of either party to force the leadership to line up 60 “yes” votes, rather than a simple majority of 51, to advance bills or nominations.
“We want the Senate to move deliberately,” Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, said. “But we want it to move. We have to find a balance that will encourage us to debate and that also enables us to legislate.”
As part of the compromise, Mr. Reid pledged that he would exercise restraint in using his power to block Republicans from trying to offer amendments on the floor, in exchange for a Republican promise to not try to erect procedural hurdles to bringing bills to the floor.
(More here.)
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