The fatal shootings in Atlanta last week have led one of the Senate’s long-standing Democrat supporters of the filibuster rule to say she’s now open to discussing potential changes to that process.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein framed her potential shift as a backup plan if bipartisan agreement can’t be reached on legislation passed by the House to improve background checks for gun purchases and reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.
"If that proves impossible and Republicans continue to abuse the filibuster by requiring cloture votes, I’m open to changing the way the Senate filibuster rules are used,” the California Democrat said in a statement late Friday.