A Republican and a Democrat Have a Plan to Unjam the Senate. Washington Should Take It Seriously
Sens. Steve Daines and Jeff Merkley want to scrap time-wasting procedural votes and fast-track bills with broad support, without ending the filibuster. In our view, it is a practical step toward a Senate that gets the people's business done.
By Clara Hughes
ALTAS WORLD NEWS OPINION | By Clara Hughes, Chief Opinion Editor | October 10, 2026 | 6-min read Ask most Americans what the U.S. Senate does all day, and you will get a shrug. There is a reason. This week, Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, released a sweeping proposal to change the Senate's rules and, in their words, "Save the Senate" [1]. "More bills passed, more votes taken, less time wasted. That sums up," Daines told Semafor [4]. In our view, the plan is not perfect, but it deserves a serious hearing from both parties, and from a White House that is rightly fed up with a chamber that cannot finish its work. Key Takeaways The plan would eliminate cloture votes on nominations, motions to proceed and amendments, while keeping a cloture vote before final passage [1]. It would create a Senate version of the House "suspension" calendar, letting bipartisan bills that cleared committee pass with two-thirds support [1]. Daines said 665 bipartisan bills passed through committees over the last four Congresses and then went to "the elephant graveyard" [4]. Here is why