"New breed of Senate Democrats drove filibuster change" [View all]

[applegrove]

New breed of Senate Democrats drove filibuster change

By Michael A. Memoli at the LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-senate-newdems-20131123,0,385097.story#axzz2lLI4tYd9

"SNIP.................................


At times, their advocacy has presented challenges to the administration. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), elected in 2006, circulated a letter among his colleagues urging the president to appoint Janet Yellen — not Lawrence H. Summers — as Federal Reserve chair because Summers' banking policies were viewed as having contributed to the financial meltdown. About a third of the party, including Merkley and Warren, signed it. Yellen is now on track to take the post after advancing this week from the Senate Banking Committee, with Brown and Warren's support.

And Senate confirmation is virtually assured, thanks to the new rule change against filibusters.

"The Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party definitely are showing that they have growing influence in the caucus, and in government in general," said Matt Wall of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a group that works to promote progressive candidates and issues in Democratic primaries. On Friday, Warren circulated a fundraising letter to supporters on behalf of Merkley and Udall, thanking them for their role in changing the rule. Both men face reelection in 2014.

The changing Democratic tactics may reflect a generational shift occurring in the Senate. It's almost certain that by the start of the next Congress in 2015, more than half of the Democratic caucus will have been elected since 2008, when gridlock reached new heights. But nine of the new Senate Democrats are former Congress members, all of whom served at least part of their time under Republican majorities. Three were governors who served with Republican legislatures.

The shift among Democrats has at times confounded Republicans, particularly on the filibuster issue. Aides to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the third-longest-serving Republican, said they had felt that Reid's most recent moves telegraphing the nuclear option were a bluff.


..................................SNIP"