Byrd and financial reform
June 28, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From CBS News:
The House and the Senate were poised to pass a sweeping financial reform measure this week and send it to the president’s desk, but the death of Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia could delay the final votes on the bill.
Byrd, Congress’ longest-serving member, died at the age of 92 early this morning. While the senator’s health was fragile for several years, his vote has proved critical for Democrats, who since the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy last year have been one vote shy of a filibuster-proof, 60 vote majority.
With Byrd’s death, it is now unclear whether Democrats have enough votes to overcome a Republican filibuster to pass financial reform. Four Republicans — Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Susan Collins of Maine and Charles Grassley of Iowa — helped pass an initial version of the bill in May, and three of them (excluding Grassley) voted for “cloture,” which closes debate and ends a filibuster. Two Democrats — Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin — voted against cloture and the bill.
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