Sen. Bunning's one-man filibuster is over

USA Today
Mar. 03, 2010

Lawmakers have reached an agreement to end the one-man filibuster by Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., that has blocked an extension of health and unemployment benefits since last week.

The Senate will take a series of votes Tuesday night, culminating in a final vote on the $10 billion bill. The legislation would provide a 30-day extension of federal employment benefits for the unemployed as well as a 65% subsidy to help people who have lost their job pay for health insurance under the COBRA program.

Bunning has argued that the measure should be paid for, which it currently is not. He had previously suggested using leftover money from the economic stimulus bill. On Tuesday, he said he would support a Democratic proposal to end a bio-fuel tax credit for "black liquor," a byproduct of the paper making process, which budget analysts have predicted could save $24 billion over 10 years.

"We cannot keep adding to the debt and passing the buck," Bunning said. "What matters is that we get our spending problems under control."

Throughout the day Tuesday, Democrats had been threatening to keep the Senate open all night, a move that would have forced Bunning to remain on the floor if he wanted to continue to block the measure.

With hundreds of thousands of people expected to lose benefits this week, Democrats have spent the past several days holding up the impasse as an example of Republican attempts to block Democratic legislation. The Democratic National Committee blasted 16 e-mails to reporters on Tuesday decrying Bunning's blockade.

Update 7:12 p.m. ET. "I'm glad we were able to work this out and move on with the business of the Senate," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said.

Update 7:21 p.m. ET. "I will be back on future spending bills demanding that they be paid for," Bunning said.

Update 9:37 p.m. ET: The Senate has voted 78-19 to extend the unemployment and health benefits for one month, adopting the same measure passed last week by the House.

"The extension we passed tonight will restore the critical safety-net services American families and communities depend on for survival," Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said.

Here's an earlier On Politics item with more information about Bunning's recent effort.