WASHINGTON -- The likelihood of a knockdown fight over the filibuster this summer increased on Tuesday as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) p...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told top advisers that he is prepared to take action if Senate Republicans block three upcoming nominat...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is increasingly focused on the month of July as the time to exercise the so-called “nuclear option” and revisit ...

They know that even under the best circumstances, justice is hard to come by. Now, the Senate is making it virtually impossible for workers to gain the justice they deserve. And what does that say about our democracy?

WASHINGTON -- Progressive and labor groups on Thursday renewed calls for Senate leaders to reform filibuster rules that have allowed Republicans to re...

The NYT got a key fact wrong when it wrote that Mark Begich, the Democratic senator from Alaska, "voted against a measure to expand background checks" for gun purchases.  But we doubt that Begich will complain: The truth is much worse.

The fact our country first is not even able to pass a law that more than 50 senators voted for, and second is unable to enact a law that more than 90 percent of Americans agree on, is not only deplorable at home, but must be perplexing abroad.

Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) blasted the Republican Party on Sunday for creating gridlock in Washington and rooting for government failure, pinn...

In February 2010 I wrote in the Huffington Post, "We Have A Crisis, Mr. Vice-President." I wrote of the damage being done to American representative d...

The gun purchase background checks proposed in the Manchin-Toomey amendment are supported by over 90 percent of Americans. So why couldn't this proposal even pass the Democrat-controlled Senate? We're living under minority rule, and there are a few culprits.

I cannot figure out why we as a society must be saddled with the burden of watching our democratic processes held hostage to an unreasonable standard of success that dictates a supermajority of 60 votes in the most debilitative body in the world.

WASHINGTON -- Wednesday's vote on expanding background checks for gun sales would have led to headlines in many other countries about a landslide vict...

Today the NLRB has no teeth, but if H.R. 1120 has its way, tomorrow it might not survive. A vote for H.R. 1120 is a vote to send this country to a pre-1935 era, before the National Labor Relations Act.

After unprecedented, repeated use of the filibuster, thirteen Senate Republicans threaten to block a vote on gun safety legislation which appears to enjoy wide popular support. It is nip and tuck whether they can pull it off.

Although Sen. Rand Paul's filibuster demanding answers about the U.S. drone program drew criticism, including from some in his own GOP, a new poll sho...

The Senate's Democratic leaders are discussing how to counter Republican obstruction of President Barack Obama's judicial and Cabinet nominees, Talkin...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apparently thinks Sen. Tom Coburn is living up to his old nickname, Dr. No, and expressed his displeasure with the O...

There was a real-life, old-timey talkin' filibuster on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, courtesy of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who interrupted the conf...

Even after tepid filibuster reform, a 40 percent minority in the Senate can block real change. Gerrymandered districts in the House have produced a body that is controlled by a party with a 33 seat majority that lost the popular vote by more than 1 million votes.

If there were unlimited timeouts, football games would go on forever. So the NFL limits the number of timeouts. With those rules, the timeout becomes an essential part of strategy. "Clock management" is essential. Now, apply clock management to the U.S. Senate.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) spent the last few months tirelessly advocating for an end to the silent filibuster. Ultimately, the filibust...

WASHINGTON -- John Kerry bid farewell to the U.S. Senate Wednesday, insisting the institution isn't broken even as he detailed exactly how it is and p...

Despite the severity of the problem and Harry Reid's apparent determination to fix it, the negotiated package of reforms is pretty tepid. Nevertheless, months of debate about Senate dysfunction and passionate grassroots involvement on the issue did achieve some progress.

If you were seeking any further proof that both of our political parties have just as much of an investment in perpetuating the stagnant swamp that is our state of governance, look no further than what happened Thursday.