Can conference reports be filibustered?
This question was making the rounds on Twitter today, so may as well answer it here, too. The conference report — that is to say, the consensus bill that emerges after the House and Senate conduct their negotiations — is subject to the filibuster. It is, however, not subject to amendments. You can vote to filibuster, vote against, or vote for. You cannot vote to remove, say, the Medicare buy-in proposal. On the bright side for reformers, that means there’s more pressure to vote for the bill in its entirety, as you can’t hide behind small disagreements. The downside is that there’s no reticence on the part of Senate Republicans, and some Senate Democrats, to filibuster. If their delicate agreement suffers during negotiations, there’s every reason to believe they will filibuster. My hunch is that the bill that emerges from conference is going to look a lot more like the Senate bill than the House bill. David Waldman has more details.
