Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV) said he is encouraging his caucus to oppose cloture on the pending ethics overhaul bill in an effort to force a vote on a politically unpopular deal to turn operations at six U.S. ports over to a United Arab Emirates-owned company. 67 votes if all 100 senators are present and voting is required for cloture. Senate Republicans will be working hard to reach the almost impossible number to be able to successfully set aside an amendment that would block the ports deal by Charles Schumer, (D-N.Y). If cloture is invoked, Schumer's amendment could be ruled non-germane to the underlying bill.