Reid to Allow Some GOP Amendments to Unemployment Extension

Criticizes for blocking them

Harry Reid is now set to allow votes on a "reasonable number" of amendments to legislation extending unemployment benefits that GOP Senators are pushing for, his office tells me.

Republicans had been furious with Reid for blocking their amendments, and he got pummeled today by tough pieces in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal over his opposition to letting them move forward.

What made these stories tough for Reid was that two amendments came from GOP Senators who supported cloture on the initial three-month unemployment extension — Kelly Ayotte and Rob Portman. As the Times piece put it today, despite their support for the initial UI legislation, their amendments were blocked by the "brutish" Senate Majority Leader.