Democrats Are About to Rediscover the Value of the Filibuster
Three years ago, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D–Wash.) and nearly 100 of her House colleagues signed a letter urging top Democrats in the Senate to take radical action.
“This is an existential moment for our country,” Jayapal and the other House Democrats wrote. “We cannot let a procedural tool that can be abolished stand in the way of justice, prosperity, and equity.”
That procedural tool? The filibuster, which requires 60 voters for the Senate to pass most legislation—except for judicial nominations and some budget bills. The filibuster rule, those House Democrats argued in 2021, was preventing Congress from preventing the Senate from “advancing critical legislation that can meet the needs of the people we represent.”
It’s a good thing the Senate Democrats didn’t listen.
In the aftermath of last week’s election, Republicans appear poised to have full control of the federal government starting in January. (Control of the House remains uncertain, but a slim GOP majority seems likely even though 16 races remain uncalled as of Tuesday morning.)
Asked Tuesday whether she would still support ending the filibuster in this new political dynamic, Jayapal gave the obvious answer in a bit of an unexpected way.
“Am I championing getting rid of the filibuster now when the [GOP] has the trifecta? No,” Jayapal said, according to HuffPost reporter Jennifer Bendery. “But had we had the trifecta, I would have been.”
Give her some points for honesty, I guess.
But this sort of cynical opportunism is why the filibuster’s days might be numbered. On both sides of the aisle, there is a worrying tendency to see anything that checks the power of a congressional majority (or a chief executive) as a problem to be solved, rather than a necessary limitation on the raw power of democracy. Those who take a more measured view of things—like Sens. Joe Manchin (D–W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D–Ariz.), who played big roles in preserving the filibuster in the early days of the Biden administration—are heading for the door.
The uncertainty about who will take up their mantle makes it more essential than ever to keep th
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