DeMint threatens to force a reading of omnibus bill - On Congress - DeMint threatens to force a reading of omnibus bill

via Politico:

The year-end legislative push appears threatened by procedural hijinks on the Senate floor.

As Democrats try to push through a nearly 2,000-page omnibus spending bill, Republican senators are threatening to bog down the floor by forcing Senate clerks to read the full text aloud, a process that could take more than one full day to complete.

“Democrats haven’t given Republicans or the American people time to read the bill, but I’ll join with other Republican colleagues to force them to read it on the Senate floor,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

Such a tactic is rarely employed, but any senator can force a full reading of legislation, which is usually skipped by unanimous consent.

During the health care debate last December, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) forced clerks to read aloud Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 767-page amendment to establish a single-payer system. Sanders withdrew his amendment several hours into the reading, which had effectively paralyzed the Senate.

With the window closing on the 111th Congress, forcing a reading of the omnibus spending bill could further extend the lame-duck session until the end of the year, or force Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to scale back an ambitious agenda, which includes a repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, ratification of the START treaty, confirmation of stalled nominations and a vote on an immigration bill known as the Dream Act.