WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released the following statement on the Senate vote to reform the filibuster and allow for up or down votes on most judicial nominees:

You can shut down the government by refusing to fund it, but you can also shut it down by refusing to let people do the job of running it.  That's effectively what Republicans have done by their record number of filibusters of President Obama's appointees and judicial nominees.  I supported today's rules change because it's just common sense that the people that the President picks to work for him or serve in the judiciary deserve an up or down vote.  For years, Republicans have used the filibuster to stop the Senate from voting on dozens of nominees, and that practice—a total bastardization of the historic use of the filibuster—needed to end. 

But this rule change will end only some of that gridlock—I still believe that broader filibuster reform is critical to fixing a broken Congress. Back in April, just 45 Senators blocked a common sense measure to get guns out of the hands of criminals—something that 90% of the American people support. It is that kind of obstruction that should remind us that our work is not done to make sure that the people's will is done in the U.S. Senate.