On January 24, the Senate adopted modest changes to the chamber’s rules for the 113^th Congress (S Res 15 and S Res 16). The reforms are expected to make it easier to bring new business to the floor and to move bills into conference because they will curb usage of the filibuster (a tactic used by the minority party to block legislation) and streamline other procedures. The reforms modify Senate procedures to provide two new expedited options for bringing legislation to the floor. The first option eliminates a waiting day, allowing the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to take place the day after the motion is filed. It also removes further debate after cloture is invoked, eliminating another day. The second option would allow the majority to proceed to legislation without risk of an initial filibuster if it guaranteed that both the majority and minority parties are each allowed to offer a pair of amendments.

Link: S Res 15; S Res 16