How Senate Leaders Can Use Existing Rules To End Democrat Stonewalling

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The Federalist

How Senate Leaders Can Use Existing Rules To End Democrat Stonewalling

Getting the Senate back to work doesn’t require changing its rules. Republicans have all the tools they need to curb Democrats’ ability to obstruct their agenda.

 

By James Wallner AUGUST 23, 2017

 Democrats have threatened to filibuster Republican efforts to debate important legislation on the Senate floor. But this is nothing new. The filibuster has been used in the past to frustrate both Democratic and Republican majorities. It has prevented both liberal and conservative policies from passing. This has made it the bane of Senate majorities, their co-partisans in the House of Representatives, and the president.

Consequently, senators have proposed various reforms over the years to clamp down on the minority’s ability to delay the legislative process. Most recently, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., called for changing the Senate’s rules to make it easier to start debate on the floor. He would do so by making the motion to proceed to legislation non-debatable (i.e., not subject to a filibuster).