Category: Congress

In order to secure support from the 20 craziest  members of the Republican (as opposed to the crazy members who support him), Kevin McCarthy has been agreeing to various proposals that will weaken the power of the party leadership. While we don’t know the details, it appears he has been supporting rules that would limit the use of closed rules in the consideration of some (or perhaps) all legislation on the floor of the House. Before any legislation can be considered on the floor of the US House, the House has to adopt a “rule” that has first been adopted by the House Rules Committee which, since the mid 1970s, has been an arm of the party leader,  that is the Speaker of the House. A closed rule prohibits any amendments from being considered on the floor. An open rule allows any amendment to be propose. And a modified closed… Continue reading

Two or perhaps three Democratic Senators–Manchin and Synema and perhaps one other–are reluctant to overturn the filibuster. That reluctance could be overcome by Republican obstruction of critical policy needs–COVID-19 relief, funding for a massive vaccination campaign, help with health care and housing–that are critical to the states of these Senators. But even then, Senators who have publicly opposed filibuster reform might be concerned about changing their position publicly. So here are two steps that go part way to filibuster reform. First, we can change the rules for the reconciliation process. The reconciliation process allows Congress to move, once every session, a budget resolution under which changes in laws that affect the budget–including taxation and appropriations–without being subject to a filibuster. Critical legislation has been passed by both sides under reconciliation resolution in the last 15 years including the ACA and the Trump Tax Cut. There are, however, limitations on what… Continue reading