Senate leaders agree to filibuster reforms

Senate leaders struck an agreement Thursday to limit how and when the minority party can launch a filibuster and were presenting the deal to other senators for final sign-off, in a move that could avert what had promised to be a poisonous parliamentary showdown.
The crux of the deal preserves the filibuster but gives the majority several different options for how to get bills to the Senate floor. Right now, the minority party gets two opportunities to filibuster every bill, but the new deal could limit that to just one full filibuster, depending on circumstances.
It also defuses to so-called “nuclear option — a power-grab rules chang