Yesterday, Senate Democrats made a deal to preserve the filibuster in order to avoid the dreaded “nuclear option,” which would have allowed a simple majority to change Senate rules.
In exchange, Senate Republicans agreed to move ahead on nominations made by the Obama administration. Republicans had been using the filibuster to block key nomination hearings for Obama administration appointees.
“I hope that everyone learned the lesson last night, that it sure helps to sit down and talk to each other,” Majority Leader Harry Reid remarked yesterday on Capitol Hill.
This is a small, tempered victory for a chamber that has been plagued with accusations of ineffectiveness. But the Senate is far from alone on that front.
The House of Representatives, led by Speaker John Boehner, has been unable to produce any results on immigration reform.
By not acting on the Senate’s version of the bill, House Republicans risk further alienating Latino voters, many of whom want to see immigration reform enacted.
For his part, Boehner defends taking a vague stance on immigration reform:
“My job is to do everything I can to facilitate a process for solving this problem, and that’s what I’m going to continue to do.”
Between all of the problems faced by the Senate Majority Leader, and the Speaker of the House, we wonder: Is the Congressional leadership failing to do its job?
Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich, and New York Magazine writer Jennifer Senior, explore that question.
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