On Tuesday, a move to speed up an arguably historic foot-dragging session of the Nebraska Legislature succeeded, but not before eating up even more valuable legislative time, all of the morning session and a good part of the afternoon.

“The session is not stopped it has been reduced to a crawl,” said Speaker of the Legislature John Arch.

Arch’s assessment coming in the middle of a key rule battle as lawmakers asked: Should you, can you, change the rules in the middle of the game?

Lawmakers on the right, who make up the majority of senators, are upset that the left has been filibustering bill after bill, delaying potential votes on highly controversial issues, including legislation targeting transgender health care.

That found State Sen. Steve Erdman, a western Nebraska conservative, promoting and getting approved, a rule change ending at least one delaying tactic. A tactic which last week—in a rare rule maneuver—found left-side lawmakers eating up chunks of talking time, before passing the baton to a fellow lefty.

[View lawmakers' comments above]

State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, an Omaha Democrat, arguing Team Red’s rule change is “Voting to dismantle the Nebraska Legislature,” but she also insists attempts to silence her will come up short.

Elkhorn Republican, State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, said the rule change is needed to end all the slow talking and get several critical bills—including money for schools and  special education, along with major tax cuts—moving forward.

Time and again Cavanaugh and fellow lawmaker, Democrat Megan Hunt, have said their delaying tactics will end if the transgender health care bill goes away.