Sen. Jeff Merkley has been pushing for filibuster reform since 2011. This time, he might get it done
Capehart
The Washington Post
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2021
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Jonathan K. Partt, and this is K-POP. |
| 0:04.4 | Senator Jeff Murkley of Oregon has been trying to change the Senate's filibuster role |
| 0:08.3 | since at least 2011, but with a Democrat in the White House and Democrats in the Senate |
| 0:13.3 | majority eager to pass his agenda, Murkley's work is taking on new urgency, especially |
| 0:19.4 | with federal voting rights legislation hanging in the balance. |
| 0:23.1 | We get into how the filibuster used to work, how the filibuster has been used more recently, |
| 0:28.8 | and why he's not moved in the slightest by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's |
| 0:34.4 | articulated worries about what could happen to the Senate if Democrats get rid of the |
| 0:39.3 | filibuster. |
| 0:40.3 | If anyone's destroyed the Senate, it's Mitch McConnell, his strategy of a struck and |
| 0:45.1 | delay has been deeply deeply damaging. |
| 0:48.4 | Senator Murkley has a lot to say, and you can hear it all right now. |
| 0:57.3 | Senator Murkley, thank you very much for coming on the podcast. |
| 1:00.7 | You bet, Mr. Pleasure to be with you. |
| 1:03.3 | So from what I understand, you are in the Senate, in the Democratic caucus, you are |
| 1:09.7 | Mr. filibuster reform. |
| 1:11.9 | You've been working on this, correct me if I'm wrong, since at least 2011, and from what |
| 1:18.8 | I've read you and then Senator Tom Udall had put forth a proposal, a filibuster reform |
| 1:24.9 | proposal, and nothing happened. |
| 1:27.9 | What was that proposal? |
| 1:29.2 | Well, in 2011, we put up a rule change that would have converted us as a Senate to the |
| 1:36.1 | talking filibuster, kind of restoring and strengthening the vision of debate in the |
... |
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