Private: Coalition of Leaders Assails Senate Filibuster Abuse

Republican senators successfully used the filibuster yesterday to block a military funding bill that would have abolished the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, but not before a coalition of policy advocates and experts, including ACS Executive Director Caroline Fredrickson, lambasted the abuse of the Senate procedure, which is "derailing our democratic process and prioritizing corporate special interests over progress."

Fredrickson said during a press call held by the coalition that filibuster threats, often made in secret, have held up judicial confirmations to fill more than 100 vacancies on the federal bench, USA Today reports. "This is just no way to run a judicial system," Fredrickson said.

"A review of the Constitution will show that the filibuster was never a part of the Framers' plan," Fredrickson added. "The filibuster is a Senate-created procedure, and has no basis in the Constitution or American history."

Carl Pope, executive chairman of the Sierra Club, said the filibuster is being improperly used to advance special interest agendas over the public interest.

"Filibusters aren't about democracy," Pope said. "They're about special interests flexing their power. An overwhelming number of Americans want our country to build a clean energy economy, but they don't hold the same sway as the coal and oil industry when it comes to asking their allies to filibuster a bill."

Joining Fredrickson and Pope were George Kohl, senior director for policy at Communications Workers of America, and Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, who set the stage for a Senate hearing today on the use of the filibuster.

This type of cross-issue coalition working to reform Senate rules is a "big deal," Ezra Klein wrote in The Washington Post. "Now, maybe it's just a call," he cautioned. "But the fact that these groups are talking to one another about the need for filibuster reform is fairly important, and a sign of just how serious this conversation has gotten."

Visit http://www.democracyrules.us/ for more information about the coalition and filibuster reform.

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