U.S. Senators Must Use Full Procedural Power to Halt Senate Business

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Candidate Reilly Neill Calls on U.S. Senators to Use Full Procedural Power to Halt Senate Business Until Constitutional Demands Are Met

Montana U.S. Senate candidate Reilly Neill today issued a public call for immediate action by U.S. Senators to bring Senate business to a halt in defense of the Constitution and rule of law.

"Americans stood up on No Kings Day to declare that no president, no billionaire, and no political party stands above the people," Neill said. "That fight must now continue inside the Senate chamber itself. Extreme times demand extreme measures. The Senate minority must act."

Citing the growing threat of authoritarian overreach by the executive branch, Neill is calling on at least ten sitting Senators of either party to form a procedural resistance bloc that would use the Senate’s own rules to shut down floor business until core constitutional demands are met.

Neill outlined the strategy as follows:

• Place holds on every nomination.

• Object to unanimous consent requests that allow Senate business to proceed routinely.

• Demand full debate, roll call votes, and procedural delays on every piece of business.

• Filibuster non-essential business until constitutional compliance is restored.

Neill emphasized that the tools to stop Senate business exist and have already been used successfully by Republican Senators such as Tommy Tuberville, who blocked hundreds of military promotions single-handedly for nearly a year. 

"What we are calling for is not theoretical. It has been done. The question is whether Senators have the courage to use the same rules to defend democracy itself."

Neill issued the following list of demands for resolution:

• Immediate restoration of Congressionally-appropriated funding and staffing levels to all federal agencies, including full funding of Veterans services, Medicaid and Social Security.

• A formal and public apology from the Trump administration to Senator Alex Padilla for public attacks and decorum violations.

• Legal guarantees for due process for all individuals prior to any deportation or removal.

• Full Congressional appropriations for national disaster preparedness and emergency response.

"The executive branch has shown little to no respect for rule of law, for due process, or for the role of Congress," Neill said. "The only thing authoritarian power responds to is the refusal to comply. Senators must use every tool available to them. They do not need 60 votes. They do not need 41 votes. They only need the will to act."

Neill, who is challenging Senator Steve Daines in Montana’s 2026 U.S. Senate race, called the current moment "a final warning bell" for constitutional democracy.

"If the Senate refuses to defend its own role, it will soon become irrelevant. This is not obstruction for its own sake. This is Constitutional defense. The Senate must shut it down. The unique special role envisioned by the framers for the Senate in our governmental framework affords it the singular ability to block tyrannical actions by the executive branch. I urge Senators at this serious moment in our Constitutional republic to make full use of their powers."

For press inquiries, interview requests, or further comment, contact Jami Woodman at (406) 539-1955.