Democrats are quickly coming around to the idea of reforming the Senates filibuster rules as they begin to turn their attention to other legislative priorities, including immigration, gun control, climate, infrastructure, and voting rights.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada just became the latest Democratic senator to come out in support of reforming the 60-vote threshold on legislation. A member of the establishment wing of the party, Cortez Masto chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2020 election cycle.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith of Minnesota similarly endorsed reforming or eliminating the filibuster in the past week, adding to the momentum.

That centrist rank-and-file Democrats are increasingly calling for a major Senate rule change is a huge deal. It shows the party itself is rapidly changing on an idea that had large bipartisan opposition as recently as a few years ago. In 2017, for example, 33 Democrats signed a letter authored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) reaffirming the rights of the minority via the legislative filibuster. Some of those Democratic senators are now opening the door to future reforms.

Its important we respect the rights of the minority but if you continue to see in some of these states dramatic cutbacks on voting rights... you cant take any remedy off the table, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who signed the 2017 letter, told HuffPost on Tuesday. But I still, perhaps naively, have hopes for bipartisanship.

The partys evolution on the filibuster is a growing reflection that passing President Joe Biden s agenda will only get tougher in the coming months. Senate Democrats were able to pass the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package by a simple majority vote using the budget reconciliation process, which is only allowed for legislation that affects spending and deficit reduction. Many other items on the partys agenda wont fit those constraints and will therefore require 60 votes at least 10 Republicans to pass in the Senate.

Democrats are also alarmed at the flood of laws being advanced in state legislatures across the country that would impose sharp voting restrictions and rollbacks. They view the GOP bills as a transparent effort to suppress Democratic votes in states, such as Georgia and Arizona, that helped make Biden president in the 2020 election and gave Democrats control of the Senate.

Curtailing the despicable action of these legislatures is a necessity, and our caucus is going to have to put a tent together and figure out how to do it, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told HuffPost, reiterating that everything is on the table when it comes to the filibuster.

Democrats could create a filibuster carve-out for voting and civil rights legislation, as Klobuchar and other Democrats have called for in order to pass federal voting rights standards. They could take less drastic steps without outright repealing the rule, such as requiring senators waging filibusters to actually talk at length on the Senate floor to sustain them, something that isnt the case currently. Or they could decide to scrap the 60-vote threshold entirely.

There is a tremendous sense in the caucus that Mitch McConnell has profoundly abused the 60-vote motion to close debate, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a longtime leading advocate for filibuster reform, told HuffPost on Tuesday.

Democrats have also used the filibuster while in the minority to block many Republican bills in recent years, including ones dealing with coronavirus aid and reforms to policing guidelines.