MinnPost: Klobuchar, Franken pleased with Senate filibuster overhaul

Large-scale filibuster reform came to the Senate on Thursday, even if it was a bit later than reform advocates like Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken would have liked.

Stung by a series of Republican filibusters on President Obama’s judicial and administrative nominees, Sen. Harry Reid asked the Senate to change its rules Thursday and require only a majority vote to end debate on those nominations going forward. In the past, majority party senators faced a 60-vote hurdle for breaking a threatened filibuster, and Democrats only hold 55 seats. Changing the rule itself needed a majority vote, and 52 Democrats, including both Minnesotans, voted to do so.

It was the long-threatened “nuclear option” finally come to fruition — over objections from every Republican, some of whom helped broker a compromise and preserve the filibuster just four months ago, Democrats changed the rules and set themselves up to approve most of its president’s nominees no matter what the minority has to say about it.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken have long backed filibuster changes, although their proposals were often more nuanced than just slashing the 60-vote threshold for these types of nominees. But both said Thursday the changes were justified, given how Republicans have blocked Obama nominees, from a member of the House picked to lead the federal housing agency to three nominees to the powerful D.C. Circuit Court this month.

Of the 47 executive branch nominations ever blocked by Senate filibusters, more than half have come during Obama’s tenure, according to Reid’s office.

“There is a reason for the minority in the Senate to have certain rights, but with those rights comes responsibility, and they were not exercising that responsibility at all,” Franken said.

Click here to read the whole article >>>

The post MinnPost: Klobuchar, Franken pleased with Senate filibuster overhaul appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.