Democrats Attempt to End the Senate Filibuster Seems to be Fizzling Out

It looks like Democrats are ready to give up their attempt to end the filibuster rule in the Senate. Most likely, the realization they could lose control of the Senate in 2012 had some bearing on their thinking. Reportedly, Republicans are willing to make some minor changes to Senate rules. The most prominent is getting rid of "secret holds" Senators can put on nominations or bills. That looks like a reasonable change.

(Politico)- There’s now a strong chance for a bipartisan agreement to make it easier to confirm at least non-controversial judicial and executive branch nominees. Chances also remain high that both sides will agree to do away with secret holds, which allows an individual senator to block nominations or bills anonymously.

But that may be as far as the Senate goes in overhauling its rules.

The power of any senator to filibuster almost anything isn’t expected to go away, nor is the requirement that filibusters can only be defeated with 60 votes and days of consideration.