Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada appear outside the White House on Nov. 16 following a meeting with President Obama and leaders from the House.(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)
WASHINGTON -- A brewing side drama between the Senate's Democratic and
Republican leaders is testing their relationship as the two navigate
tough negotiations on the "fiscal cliff" coming at the end of the year.
Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky., are engaged in an increasingly heated battle over how
and whether to change the chamber's filibuster rules. The fight comes as
President Obama and congressional leaders are trying to find a
bipartisan way to avert an end-of-year budgetary crisis that will raise
taxes and dramatically cut spending unless they act.
McConnell
spoke of "how unfortunate it is that the majority leader has chosen to
create an extraordinary controversy here in the Senate at a time when we
ought to be encouraging maximum bipartisan cooperation."
On the
Senate floor, Reid said McConnell personally was a reason change was
needed. "Under Leader McConnell, Republican senators have mounted
filibusters so much more on a regular basis."
When McConnell was
in the majority in 2005, he once sought similar rule changes he now
opposes. Likewise, Reid then opposed the rules changes he now supports.
Reid
wants to use a procedural loophole that allows a majority leader at the
start of a new session of Congress - coming in early January - to
change the governing rules of the U.S. Senate to limit the ability to
filibuster legislation.
There are many ways to filibuster a bill or nomination - most famously as Jimmy Stewart did in the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
when a senator debates uninterrupted on the floor - but the filibuster
can be used in a number of ways to slow down or block legislation moving
through the chamber.
Reid has not offered an official proposal,
but he wants to eliminate the filibuster used to block debate on a piece
of legislation. Proponents of the rule change say it will make the
Senate more efficient. Opponents, who call it the "nuclear option," say
it will accelerate growing partisanship in the Senate, making it harder
to get things done.
Use of the filibuster has risen dramatically
in recent years. The Brennan Center for Justice issued a report this
month outlining how legislative output has fallen as filibusters have
risen. The Senate has passed a record low 2.8% of the bills introduced
in the chamber. Senate floor activity devoted to ending filibusters has
skyrocketed. On average, it takes 188 days to confirm one judicial
nominee.
There is bipartisan frustration with the use of
filibusters, but the decision to address the issue now is straining
relations at the top just as Washington is being tested to find
compromise.
"The last thing on my list would have been to throw a
bomb into the Senate, have it blow up and have everybody mad as heck,"
McConnell said of Reid's efforts to move forward with his plan. "And I
hope we can out all this divisiveness behind us and build confidence and
relationships on a bipartisan basis."
Reid has said for months he
would move forward with the rule change if Democrats retained the
majority. This effort was not unexpected. Reid downplayed GOP concerns:
"The Senate has repeatedly adjusted its rules as circumstances dictate.
We are making simple changes. We're not changing the Constitution."
USA Today