In January, the newly-convened Senate has the authority to change filibuster rules by a majority vote, according to a letter sent to the Senate todayby a group of leading academics and constitutional scholars.
The letter includes diverse voices such as Michael McConnell (Stanford Law professor, former federal judge), Charles Fried (Harvard Law professor, former Solicitor General under President Reagan), Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean of UC-Irvine Law School), and Burt Neuborne (NYU Law professor), among others. It explains how the Senate’s power to change its rules by a majority vote stems directly from the constitutional mandate that each chamber will “determine the Rules of its Proceedings.”