What’s Going On in the Senate?
In the U.S. Senate, there are back room deals, secret holds, and filibuster rules that allow a handful of senators to stop the rest from making any progress. Senators don’t even get to debate about really important legislation on the Senate floor, let alone vote, and no one is held accountable. But a new session of Congress is starting, and it is time to reform the rules. Let's fix the Senate, now. More »
Senate Leadership Agrees Upon Rules Package
Thursday 27, Jan 2011
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, reached a mutual agreement on a new procedural system for the 112th Senate, earlier today.
We Must Stand Strong on Filibuster Reform
Tuesday 25, Jan 2011
Earlier this week, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer and that committee's ranking Republican, Lamar Alexander, created a rules reform proposal designed to garner bipartisan support. But the three Senators -- Udall, Merkley, and Harkin -- who proposed comprehensive changes to Senate rules earlier this month, continue to advocate for stronger reforms. And leading organizations have reiterated their call for common sense reforms that make the Senate more transparent and accountable
FL and OR Newspapers Continue Calls for Reform
Thursday 20, Jan 2011
Support for Senate rules reform continues to grow in the states. Today, two more newspapers editorialized in favor of S. Res. 10, the reform proposal introduced by Senators Merkley, Udall and Harkin.
Over 300 Historians Call for Rules Reform
Thursday 20, Jan 2011
Earlier this month, 300 historians, political scientists, and legal scholars delivered a petition to the 112th Congress. Citing the “sorry spectacle of one bill after another being defeated in the Senate despite having a majority of senators voting for it,” they asked incoming Senators to, "Restore majority rule to the United States Senate by revising the rules that now require the concurrence of 60 members before legislation can be brought to the floor for debate and restoring majority vote for the passage of bills."
Sens. Udall, Harkin and Merkley: We must reform the Senate
Tuesday 18, Jan 2011
The three Senators who introduced the Senate rules reform package -- Tom Udall, Tom Harkin, and Jeff Merkley -- explained the need for passage to members of the press this morning. Click "Read More" to learn more about what they said and listen to the recording.
