With lawmakers still arriving in Washington, D.C., from winter recess, both Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall pushed Monday to reform the filibuster process — a complicated set of rules often cited as why seemingly little gets done for weeks in the U.S. Senate.
In Denver, roughly 75 Coloradans gathered on the icy steps of the Capitol to demand filibuster reform.
The noon rally, organized by Denver Democrats, featured 12 local politicians and activists urging attendees to support reform of Senate filibuster rules before the new Congress is sworn in Wednesday.
The legislative body can invoke the so-called nuclear option and change procedural rules with only a 51-vote majority, rather than a 60-vote supermajority.
Both Udall and Bennet — Democrats who are in the majority — favor a plan which would limit ways the minority can delay or halt legislation.
Bennet is pushing a requirement that 41 senators must show up to vote in order to block the end of debate. Current rules put the burden on the majority to have 60 votes to end debate, instead of on the filibustering minority.
“The U.S. Senate has been mired in gridlock and partisan games,” Bennet said in a statement Monday. “The problem isn’t merely having too few votes to pass legislation; it’s also a broken system that allows petty partisanship and political games.”
Speakers and attendees at Monday’s rally blamed Republican abuse of the filibuster for the defeat of recent progressive legislation such as the DREAM Act, which would have provided illegal-immigrant students a pathway to legal residency if they met certain criteria.
“The filibuster rule has been abused,” said Democratic Party of Denver secretary Owen Perkins at the rally. “A lot of Senate rules are designed to respect the minority, but we are also a society that believes in majority rule.”
Senate Democrats hold a 51-47 membership edge over Republicans, and also count the Senate’s two independent senators among the Democratic Caucus.
Staff writer Allison Sherry contributed to this story.
Kyle Glazier: 303-954-1638 or kglazier@denverpost.com
