Will GOP Senators demand a more open Senate when they come to DC next week?

And will Republicans move immigration reform legislation and curtail the filibuster?

Friday morning I chatted with the R Street Institute’s James Wallner and the University of Georgia’s Anthony J. Madonna about the state of the Senate and whether it might reform itself. I hope you’ll click and listen in.

Certainly the chamber is not the same as it was 20, 30, or 50 years ago. Today’s Senate is very locked down, with few floor debates and amendments, and lots of time spent on quorum calls and votes on procedures and nominations. Lots of legislation sits unvoted upon.

Now, we all know legislators follow incentives, and today’s senators see incentives to curb action on the floor. Worries about voter backlash to taking hard votes on messaging amendments, for example, are real. Yet, to be fair, the Senate is not wholly paralyzed. It does pass bills, although more often than not they are on matters that don’t have high electoral salience, like the Royalty Resiliency Act.

I asked Prof. Madonna and Dr. Wallner whether they thought the coming unified GOP government would incentivize the Senate to enact immigration reform (a highly salient issue!) and further erode the filibuster. Their answers might surprise you. Enjoy!