[Ezra Klein:] It's been reported that you're meeting with other senators to come up with reforms to the Senate rules. What would those look like?
[Jeff Merkley:] Discussions are really at the starting point. To give you a sense of some of the ideas, though, one question we're asking is how do you get two-thirds of the body to agree to change the rules when there's immediate pressure for the minority to protect themselves? Your rule changes could kick in in 6 to 8 years. Or you could have rule changes that are designed to trigger when the two sides are more or less even. So when there's a 55-45 majority, it wouldn't kick in, but it would at 52-48. Or think about with nominations. We're really paralyzing the executive branch. This may be a conversation that doesn't ripen for awhile, but each time I mention to a senator that we're doing this, they say thank goodness.
I say thank goodness, too. That makes three more Senators in two days. The momentum continues! This is getting less quixotic by the day.
The updated whip count chart can be found here. Depending on the outcome of the 2010 elections, there are now at least 20 Senators who will be back in 2011 who are in favor of reform, and as many as 24.
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