He would be the 59th Democrat, putting the party just one shy of what it needs to stop Republicans from blocking bills through procedural means.
There were no legal or procedural means to prevent or mediate clashes between different types of legislation, however, one of the many instances that revealed that the constitution was drawn up in haste.
When someone is vowing to use "every procedural means available" in pursuit of a goal he obviously knows he can't achieve, what he's doing is setting up a maximalist ideological test which he can later accuse rivals of having failed.
No trouble with that one: if he were not remembered for his wit, he would be remembered for his rudeness - which has led to several expulsions from the House and made him the darling of the parliamentary sketch writers - or for the relentlessness with which he will pursue his quarry by all procedural means.
this week threatening to use procedural means to block any potential executive action on the matter.
Reid said that blocking Hagel through procedural means would be unprecedented.
Now that Democrats are no longer in control of the Senate, they don't have any procedural means to prevent those nominees from being confirmed.
They haven't the vision of Adler and Crew, but they have the procedural means to block a vote being taken.
To impose cloture and cut off debate — the only procedural means of forcing action in the Senate — supporters needed a daunting two-thirds majority, or 67votess.
If Obama moves ahead, conservative senators, including Texas Republican Ted Cruz, have pledged to use "all procedural means necessary" during the lame-duck session to stop what they view as executive overreach.
Six senators, including Cruz, also vowed to use "all procedural means necessary" to stop Obama's plans to allow some immigrants in the country illegally to remain without fear of deportation.
