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This week, the Senate is taking up filibuster reform. This somewhat arcane procedure employed by the Upper Chamber to guarantee the minority is heard by allowing for extensive debate on pending legislation has mutated into a tool of obstruction. By rule, the Senate can vote to end debate by invoking  cloture (as it is formally called). However, a cloture motion requires a 60- vote majority to pass and is generally an insurmountable hurdle.  The consequence is that a Senator can block a bill from coming to the floor of the Senate by merely indicating his or her intention to filibuster. Unable to muster the 60-vote majority necessary to end a potential debate, the bill withers and dies without seeing the artifical light of the Senate Chamber. Just as significantically, the stealth filibuster means that a Senator is not obligated to publically declare his or her objection to legislation or to a  Presidential nomination to a Federal post. The romantic spectacle of a Senator speaking non-stop for hours in order to hold the floor is no longer a reality.

The thrust of the changes proposed by a cadre of Democratic Senators bent on filibuster reform is to require the minority to have 41 Senators in attendance who would be required to vote to continue debate, thereby shifting the burden onto the minority. The minority would also be required to hold the floor by actually speaking, so that  their objections to bills and nominations would be made publically.  However, Majority Leader Harry Reid prefers less impactful changes and has been in negotiations with Republican leader Mitch McConnell to reach a bipartisan compromise.  This would appear to portend only tepid steps towards returning the Senate to a functioning legislative body.

I checked the InTrade site but could not find odds on Senate filibuster reform. Stay tuned to learn if our dysfunctional Federal legislature begins its return to a governing body.