Call 202-224-3121 this Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday (the earlier the better), ask for your Senator, and tell them to vote for the Udall-Merkley filibuster reform package on January 5th. Send this message to your friends, repost this on blogs and diaries and email this message to anyone of influence. If you’re not convinced this is worth your time or you want to find out more, you can read the shorter explanation below:
Shorter Explanation of Filibuster Reform:
This new Congress will be deadlocked and only President Obama’s nominees are capable of implementing change over the next two years. If there is any progressive issue you care about, there is bound to be a nominee who is fighting for the same cause. Right now, hundreds of these nominees are being blocked by Republicans using the filibuster which delays the Senate for a week and requires 60 votes to end and force a final vote. The Udall-Merkley filibuster reform proposal (explained below) will make the filibuster much more rare by limiting its use and forcing Senators who filibuster to speak continuously. If these new rules are adopted, Republicans cannot arbitrarily block all of Obama’s nominees and stifle one of the few sources of change. However, the Democratic leadership is negotiating a watered-down version of rules changes with Republicans that would upend this rare opportunity for filibuster reform.
From Monday through Wednesday (the earlier the better), I would ask you to call the Senate at (202) 224-3121, and ask for your Senator (or Senator-elect). If you can’t get through to their Senate office, just google them, look up their district office number and call that. Once you reach their office, tell them to do two things:
- vote for the Udall-Merkley filibuster reform package on January 5th.
- Don’t accept the watered-down rules change unless it is absolutely clear that real rules reform does not have the votes to pass.
If you have time, ask to speak to a higher level staffer and leave them a message telling them the same thing. Then invite your friends to this event an encourage them to do the same.
If you’re passionate about this issue, feel free to copy and paste what’s written here or write your down argument for filibuster reform. You can post it on your blog, in an online petition, in a diary of a liberal website, email it to media organizations, progressive interest groups, or people who work in Congress. Not everyone who reads your post will be convinced. But if the hundreds of us can persuade even one of the staffers or Senators working on this issue to fight for the best possible rules reform, we can help make our government more responsive and effective.
If you are still not convinced this cause is worth your time, or want to find out about other details, please read the longer explanation below.
Longer Explanation of Filibuster Reform:
To every Obama supporter: I know you are disappointed with the election results, which will lead to legislative gridlock. But Obama can still effect change through his executive and judicial appointments:
- He can appoint progressive judges who will protect our individual liberties without deeming every law unconstitutional. Justice Ginsberg will almost certainly retire in the next two years, giving him a chance to shore up the progressive bloc of the Supreme Court. If you care about social issues like abortion and gay rights you should be fighting for his nominees to get an up or down vote.
- He can appoint heads of regulatory agencies who will actually enforce the laws in order to keep us and our environment safe. If you care about environmental protection, consumer safety, you should fight to make sure his nominees can be confirmed.
- He can appoint members of the Federal Reserve Board who can take extraordinary action to stimulate the economy. If you want the economy to improve so you can find a job or keep the one you have, you should be fighting to make sure his Federal Reserve members can be confirmed.
Right now, one Republican can filibuster any nominee or piece of legislation, delay the Senate up to a week, and make it necessary for the Democrats to muster 60 votes on everything. In the previous Congress, Republicans abused this power, preventing hundreds of qualified nominees from receiving a floor vote.
At the beginning of the session, the Senate can adopt the rule changes of Senators Udall and Merkley by a simple majority vote. These reforms do not abolish the filibuster, but they are probably the most significant changes that can muster 51 votes. They include:
- Eliminating anonymous holds where a senator can secretly filibuster a nominee
- Getting rid of filibusters on motions to proceed; Senators can only filibuster a bill/nomination once, not twice. This would halve the floor time wasted by the filibuster, allowing more nominees to be confirmed.
- Force 41 senators to vote to sustain the filibuster rather than requiring 60 senators to actively kill it (this shifts the burden to the minority when senators are absent).
- Force at least one of the 41+ senators to be speaking on the Senate floor throughout the filibuster. In this sense, they are making the filibuster a real filibuster. By forcing them to speak into the night, this reform would help ensure that it is used much less frequently.
However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now negotiating with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to develop a watered-down version of rules reform. This is a huge mistake. The only rules changes that Republicans will accept will be minor superficial ones. If the rules of the Senate are not substantially reformed, the Republicans will block hundreds of progressive nominees including judges who can protect civil liberties, regulators who can protect consumers, Federal Reserve members who stimulate the economy and put millions of people back to work. Failing to substantially change the rules would expand the gridlock in the legislative branch to the executive branch and the judicial branch. We may have a broken Congress but we should not have a broken government.
Please take a couple minutes sometime between Monday and Wednesday (earlier the better), call 202-224-2131, ask for your Senator, and tell them to support this proposal and not accept any compromise unless its clear that real reform lacks the votes. Take another couple minutes to invite all your friends and encourage them to do the same. If you really care about this, take another few minutes to copy and paste this post (or write your own) and post it on blogs, diaries, online petitions. Or email it to media organizations, progressive interest groups, or people in Congress. By giving up a few minutes each, we can spread this message to thousands of people and dozens of lawmakers. We may not convince them all, but we can provide the impetus for real reform.