Senate Leaders Reach Agreement On Filibusters

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

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."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/27/national/w080545S56.DTL

[Inuca]

1. Gentleman's agreement....?

Hmmm.... we'll see. If they get rid of the ridiculous secret hold it's at least a tiny step in the right direction.

[DJ13]

2. gentleman's agreement

Shake the hand of a conservative and he'll have a knife in the other hand.

[yellowcanine]

10. Yes, to have a "gentleman's agreement" one first needs a gentleman.

[Lint Head]

3. This is namby pamby bullshit.

Still spineless after all these years.

[Autumn]

4. What a bunch of gentlemen, these people

can not fucking be so clueless.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. don't trust them....DON'T

[ElsewheresDaughter]

7. OMG SENATE DEMS DON'T WEAR THE PINK!....please say this ain't true THE WORLD HAS GFONE MAD MAD MAD

[Hawaii Hiker]

6. Unless this speeds up President Obama's judicial nominations

then this agreement is worthless...

[Joanne98]

8. Oh Pleeeze! Man UP!

[groundloop]

9. I've seen that they were unable to get the 50 votes needed to pass new filibuster rules

I'd like to know who the deserters were (I'd bet huge amounts of money that Joe Lie-berman was one of them.).

The only way that "gentlemen's agreement" will be worth a damn is if it's enacted as a rule, otherwise we're just as fucked as during the past 2 years.

[yellowcanine]

11. Also blocks secret "holds". That's a start, anyway.

[yurbud]

12. it says ''curtail'' not end. Reid makes weak look weak. He should say which Dems refused

to vote for filibuster reform and ending holds, secret or otherwise.

[Cleita]

13. Fewer filibusters? How mighty generous of them.

:puke:

[Tx4obama]

14. The Senate VOTED today - read all the updates on the link below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4713055

p.s. Don't miss the extra updates in the comments area on the link above, and also Senator Bernie Sanders statement.

[Doremus]

15. Vomiting smiley here.

:puke: