I would imagine a constitutional amendment would be needed. I can’t really see how adding a level of consent and/or removing one would be legal under the current constitution. I think the spirit of the idea is well intentioned. Nobody likes partisan decisions and funny business in the senate. But this all goes back to the misguided idea to directly elect senators. It really makes no sense for the intended structure of congress.
Old white men that were radical liberals for their time. "As we are not to live for ever ourselves, and other generations are to follow us, we have neither the power nor the right to govern them, or to say how they shall govern themselves. . . . [It is] the summit of human vanity . . . to be dictating to the world to come." - Thomas Paine Jefferson wrote the constitution and the government should be updated every 19 years because, and you’ll love this, people over 40 were too out of touch to properly govern.
The founders were foreseeing the fact that the constitution would properly need to be modified as needed over time, and thus provided for a constitutional mechanism for accomplishing such. "Progressives" are not only free to use those mechanisms but required to do so, and where that is their intent, no prob., at least with the process. Note: just saying we dont do what white folks used to do is not a constitutional argument or process.
The first part of your reply is correct so I am going to rejoice in that and not go into the second part.