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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks at a news conference discussing the election results on Capitol Hill on November 7, 2012 in Washington, DC. Democrats retained control of the Senate, while Republicans will retain control of the House of Representatives. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

Americans are sick and tired of the gridlock in Congress, and in the Senate at least, that can change. It's the current filibuster rules, which in effect require a 60-vote majority to pass legislation, that block the people's business from moving forward -- and the Senate itself can change those rules on the first day of a new session by a simple majority vote, thanks to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers.

Do it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's first order of business in January is to persuade Democrats to revise the filibuster rules that keep legislation from even being heard, let alone coming to a vote.

The writers of the Constitution clearly were aware of the risks of supermajorities in government, which is why they so seldom invoked their use. The Washington Post's Ezra Klein recently uncovered this gem from Alexander Hamilton about the potential problems with a supermajority:

"Its real operation," Hamilton wrote, "is to embarrass the administration, to destroy the energy of government and to substitute the pleasure, caprice or artifices of an insignificant, turbulent or corrupt junta, to the regular deliberations and decisions of a respectable majority." The language is arcane, but the situation of an extreme minority blocking the will of the majority sure sounds familiar.


The Constitution was more than 50 years old before the first filibuster took place, in 1841, to protest the firing of the U.S. Senate's printers. Senators took to the floor and spoke for hours and hours, wearing down the opposition, often just reading nonsense into the record to keep things ground to a halt.

Filibusters didn't become a serious factor in Washington politics until the early 20th century. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson persuaded the Senate to set a rule that any filibuster would be cut off if two-thirds of the Senate approved. In 1975, the Senate altered the rule to a three-fifths vote, where it stands today.

But the Senate never intended the rules to be used as they have been in the past few years. Senators now don't have to actually ever impose a filibuster and stay up all night giving long speeches, which used to be the case. All they have to do today is threaten one, and unless the entire Senate musters a 60-vote supermajority to block it, the legislation is off the table.

Senate Republicans have launched a record 112 filibusters this year and have used the filibuster 360 times since 2007. If the GOP had won control of the Senate on Tuesday, Democratic senators would use the filibuster rule to block all sorts of potential GOP legislation -- and that would be just as wrong.

The U.S. Senate was once a highly respected institution. Its approval rating now stands at about 10 percent. The Senate should either reduce the supermajority to 55 votes or end it altogether. It's time for the Senate to stop filibustering and get back to doing the people's business.