Oregon’s junior governor, Jeff Merkley, wants to change the rules so that senators who seek to prevent movement on a bill have to be on the floor — physically — when requesting a filibuster. Nowadays, a senator can call in an objection and fly away, requiring members to find 60 votes to get back on track.
“The abuse of the filibuster has become rampant over the last few years,” Merkley says. “When Lyndon Johnson was majority leader, he only had to deal with one filibuster. But in the last six years, Harry Reid has faced 386 filibusters as majority leader. Frankly, it’s amazing that any legislation actually passes the Senate.”
The excessive use of the filibuster has been targeted as one of the reasons the Senate Republican minority are so effective at blocking liberal issues despite a Democratic majority. Read the full story at The Oregonian
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