Reid Vows to Limit GOP’s Power on Filibusters

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Wednesday that he would try to limit Republicans’ ability to filibuster legislation.

Reid said his push to change Senate rules seeks to prevent the GOP from using the filibuster often, the Washington Times reports.

“I think that the rules have been abused and that we’re going to work to change them,” Reid said, the Times reports. “We’re not going to do away with the filibuster, but we’re going to make the Senate a more meaningful place.”

In the current Congress, Republicans have 47 of the Senate’s 100 seats, even though Democrats increased their majority in Tuesday’s elections. But the GOP has used its minority to block portions of President Barack Obama’s agenda, The Times reports.

A filibuster requires 60 senators to overcome it.

Both parties have been reluctant to make the change because each values filibusters when they are in the minority, The Times reports.