Merkley Calls For Filibuster Reform

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) released the following statement on Thursday night, urging the Senate to consider tweaking the rules when it comes to filibustering legislation:

“As it stands now, a single Senator can delay a bill from even being considered by simply making a phone call to a clerk and then going home,” Merkley said. “We should require a number of Senators to remain on the floor in order to filibuster. Senators should make their case before the American people and explain why the majority is making such a colossal mistake that we should suspend normal democratic decision-making.”

Despite controlling only 42 seats in the Senate for the past two years, Republicans have been able to either delay or completely block several Democratic bills by filibustering them, and this preventing the majority from attaining the 60 votes needed to get the bills passed.