Two more Senate Democrats, Kelly, Tester hesitant to reform legislative filibuster

Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Jon Tester of Montana are reportedly hesitant to eliminate the legislative filibuster for issues like voting legislation.

Kelly is undecided on reforming the filibuster while Tester is supportive of a "talking filibuster" but hesitant to make a specific exception for voting rights bills, according to Politico.

"I’ve never been part of an organization where it's really, really hard to do things. So if there’s a real proposal, I’ll take a look at it and evaluate it based on what’s in the best interests of the country," Kelly said.

Kelly told Just the News in June that he would "evaluate" any filibuster reform proposal based on what's in the best interest of Democrats, Republicans, Arizona and the nation.

"I served in the Navy for 25 years, I've been here about six months, and the United States Senate doesn't function like any other organization I've ever seen, not very efficient," Kelly said at the time. "Having said that, I'll look at any proposal and evaluate it, not based on what's in the best interest of just Democrats, but what's in the best interest of Democrats, Republicans, the country and Arizona."

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema have publicly expressed opposition to eliminating the legislative filibuster, which is the 60-vote threshold needed to advance legislation in the Senate. Many Senate Democrats have stated that they support eliminating it. 

Both parties have used the filibuster in the past to block legislation proposed by the majority party in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said last week that if the GOP uses the filibuster to block the Democrats' voting rights legislation, he would proceed with a vote to change Senate rules. Democrats have connected their push for passage of federal election reform to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.