Klobuchar: We Finally Got Rid of Secret Holds and Made Progress on Changing Senate Rules

Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar supported a bipartisan agreement reached today to reform the Senate rules, including finally putting an end to "secret holds." In a bipartisan vote of 92-4, the Senate passed a resolution to officially eliminate the use of secret holds, which have allowed a single senator to anonymously block a bill or nomination from coming to the Senate floor. Shortly before the vote, Klobuchar took to the Senate floor to commend the bipartisan agreement that will also reduce the number of executive nominations subject to the Senate confirmation process and eliminate the delaying tactic of forcing the reading of an amendment that is publicly available and has been submitted for 72 hours.

"The American people aren't interested in the gamesmanship and gridlock that prevent elected officials from doing their jobs," Klobuchar said. "I am glad that we have reached a bipartisan agreement on many reform proposals that I've pushed for, and I believe those changes will help us better serve the American people. I will keep fighting for additional changes that would increase accountability and transparency and allow the Senate to function more effectively."

Klobuchar was part of a group of newer senators who in recent months have been pushing for responsible reforms to outdated Senate rules, including ending secret holds. She also voted today for additional rule changes that did not pass the Senate, including a proposal to require senators wishing to filibuster legislation to actually speak on the Senate floor to make their objections known, as well as a proposal to allow judicial nominations to be considered more efficiently.

As part of the agreement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agreed not to use the so-called "constitutional option", which would allow Senate rules to be changed by majority vote, in this Congress or the next, and he agreed to reduce the use of the process called "filling the tree" to block all amendments. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) agreed to reduce the use of the filibuster on motions to proceed.

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