Copyrighted Image? DMCA | In a move likely to spur more calls for filibuster reform, a group of conservative Republican senators is demanding that other members of the upper chamber clear all legislation through them in the final two weeks of the year.
The Senate often tries to expedite legislation when time is running short by passing bills with unanimous consent. But in a letter circulated to all senators last week, the GOP's Senate Steering Committee, headed by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), declared that more than a dozen of its members will not grant such consent for anything that is not sent to them first, by 5 p.m. on Dec. 18. "The Senate Steering Committee would like to ensure that there is sufficient time to review all legislation proposed to be passed by unanimous consent in the closing days of the current Congress," the committee said in an email that accompanied the letter. |