Senate leaders reach agreement on filibusters

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON – Senate leaders said Thursday they have agreed that minority Republicans would filibuster fewer bills and nominations in exchange for a promise by the Democratic majority to give them more chances to offer amendments.

The gentleman's agreement announced by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell was part of a package of measures to make the Senate a more workable and less contentious place. It also included support of a resolution, to be voted on later in the day, to end the practice of one senator being able to secretly block votes and a rules change that would slash by a third the number of presidential appointments that need Senate approval.

The agreement came as the Senate prepared to vote against proposals by several Democrats that would put more formal restrictions on the right of the minority to hold up or block bills and nominations through filibusters.

The institution has been plagued in recent years by procedural delays, often the result of partisan differences, and public displeasure with Congress was a key factor in the fall midterm elections that saw Republicans recapture the House and increase their strength in the Senate. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll showed that 69 percent of the people disapprove of Congress and only 26 percent view it favorably.

Reid, D-Nev., defended the central premise of the filibuster, saying debate without time limits was "in our DNA" in the Senate. But he said that "we have to act because when abuses keep us from doing our work, they deter us from working together and they stop us from working for the American people."

McConnell said he was optimistic that he and Reid could "convince our colleagues that we ought to get back to operating the Senate the way we did as recently as three or four years ago, when bills came up and they were open for amendment, and we voted on amendments, and at some point the bill would be completed."

Republicans have defended their use of the filibuster — which requires a supermajority of 60 votes to overcome and can effectively kill many bills — saying it was in response to Democrats limiting the number of amendments they can offer to bills.

The deal focuses only on filibusters pertaining to "motions to proceed," or attempts to bring a bill or a nomination to the Senate floor. The compromise did not extend to filibusters that block efforts to cut off debate and bring a bill to a final vote.
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Filibustering lives-mainly because the Democrats want to keep it now that they're the ones out of power.