Senate, Filibuster | featured news

The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to overcome a Republican-led filibuster against tougher gun laws, clearing the way for a major congressional debate on a package of proposals sought by President Barack Obama in the aftermath of the Connecticut school massacre.

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Tuesday criticized three Senate Republicans who have threatened to filibuster Senate gun control legislation. Carney said a filibuster would be “unfortunate” and would send the wrong message to the families of gun violence victims.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Saturday that there's a chance Republicans will filibuster former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense. "Sen. Hagel did not do a very good job before the Armed Services committee," McConnell said. "I think the opposition to him is intensifying. Whether that means he will end up having to achieve 60 votes or 51 is not clear yet." McConnell did not say how he planned to vote.

The two packages will alter procedural rules to speed up the process in certain cases, but they fall far short of the sweeping reforms sought by liberal senators and their allies. The Senate approved changes to the filibuster Thursday night, adopting modest limits on the partisan obstruction that has ground action in the chamber to a near standstill.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned senators Monday to oppose the growing momentum for dramatic reform of the filibuster, saying, "It may be the most important thing you ever do." Use of the filibuster to stall legislation -- when the minority party refuses to end debate on a bill unless 60 senators vote to do so -- has escalated in recent years, rising from a rarity to the norm. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been signaling his readiness to curb the tactic, often noting that he has faced 385 filibusters during his leadership while Lyndon Johnson had to deal with only one when he ran the Senate.

When the 113th Congress convenes in January, one of the first things the Senate Democratic majority is expected to do is act to reform the filibuster. As my colleague Greg Sargent has noted, 50 senators are now on record supporting filibuster reform, and given that the caucus also believes that Senate rules can be changed through a simple majority vote at the start of a congressional session, this suggests strongly that changes will pass.

Senate Republicans on Tuesday filibustered the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, blocking the nominee President Obama chose last year to serve on one of the nation's most powerful courts.

A vote on the package is set for Tuesday, minutes after the swearing-in of a new West Virginia senator gives Democrats the ability to overcome a filibuster.

On the eve of a vote to extend jobless benefits, President Obama urged Republican senators to set aside partisanship and vote for a package that would provide relief to 2.5-million out-of-work Americans.