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Today on The Cycle: filibuster reform

Harry Reid’s filibuster reform effort received a boost from the president on Wednesday when the White House released a statement backing the decision.
The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Harry Reid’s filibuster reform effort received a boost from the president on Wednesday when the White House released a statement backing the decision.

The statement read:

"They want to see progress, not partisan delay games. That hasn't changed, and the President supports Majority Leader Reid's efforts to reform the filibuster process."

However, even with the president’s support Reid is still lobbying to get other Democratic Senators behind him. There are still many Democrats, and not to even mention the GOP’s opposition, that remain on the fence about changing the filibuster.

Speaker John Boehner is already on the record saying that any bill coming to the House regarding the filibuster would be “dead on arrival”.

Adopted in 1917, the Senate filibuster is a method of blocking or delaying a particular action through a prolonged speech. And, this is not the type of speech that one person can just stop. You need 60 votes in order to stop a filibuster, which is not as easy to get as one may think.

So will Reid be able to pull through and change the filibuster reform? msnbc Contributor Jimmy Williams joins The Cycle in today’s guest spot to give his analysis on what is happening on the Hill.