In a statement issued on Saturday, Reid said that Democrats would attempt to use the filibuster to prevent the Senate from holding even a symbolic vote on the issue, which would likely result in an embarrassing outcome for Democrats. “I recently informed Senator McConnell that after a period of robust debate, Democrats would be happy to proceed straight to a final passage vote,” Reid said in the statement, suggesting “robust debate” was a coy way of saying that the debate will not end unless Republicans can muster 60 votes to do so…

At least three of the five remaining undecided Democrats will need to sign on in order to uphold a filibuster. Those include Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Joe Manchin, D-W.V., Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. Of those, Cantwell and Peters have said the least about the deal, and may be the most likely to sign on.

In his statement, Reid skillfully avoided talking about the deal or saying that it was his intention to prevent a vote, devoting just 274 words to the matter. He spent more than twice as many words — 569 — quoting GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-K.Y., who often spoke in defense of filibusters when Republicans were in the minority.