I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Sen. Tom Udall, along with Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), introduced a resolution to change the filibuster in the U.S. Senate yesterday. A vote on the rules change was put on hold until the Senate returns from a recess after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
“Here in the Senate, open, honest debate has been replaced with secret backroom deals and partisan gridlock,” Udall said while introducing the rule-change package on Tuesday. “Up-or-down votes on important issues have been unreasonably delayed or blocked entirely at the whim of a single senator. Last year, for example, one committee had almost every piece of legislation held up by holds from one senator.”
Reforming the filibuster has been one of Udall’s main goals over the past year.
The reform package presents five major changes to the current Senate rules which many Democrats have blamed for unprecedented deadlock over the last two years. It would also eliminate the use of secret holds where one senator can object to a bill without being named and hold up proceedings on an entire bill. The bill would also force a “talking filibuster.” After a failed cloture vote, those opposing moving forward on a vote on the bill would “be required to continue debate as long as the subject of the cloture vote or an amendment, motion, point of order, or other related matter is the pending business,” according to a summary sent by Udall’s office.
The resolution would have protections for the minority, guaranteeing them a set number of amendments after cloture, “provided the amendments are germane and have been filed in a timely manner.”
Finally, the resolution would allow just two hours of debate after a successful cloture for nominees. As there is no way to add amendments to nominations, the current 30 hours would be cut dramatically to speed up the workings of the Senate.
The three senators say this bill is necessary because the obstruction in the Senate by Republicans over the past two years has damaged the body’s ability to govern.
“The clear and undeniable fact is that the Senate is broken,” Merkley said in a statement Wednesday. “Thoughtful deliberation does not occur and far too much gets lost in a tangle of obstruction and delay.”
“This reform effort is about one thing: ensuring the Senate can operate more fairly, effectively and democratically to meet the challenges of our time,” Harkin said in a statement Wednesday.
