Citing the likelihood that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will obstruct a bipartisan House bill that would create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, progressive lawmakers and campaigners in recent days intensified demands to end the filibuster.
"There are Republicans who still refuse to acknowledge that Biden won the election. And we're supposed to think that they'll magically work with us on passing our agenda?"
House lawmakers voted 252-175 last Wednesday to establish an expert commission to probe the events of January 6, when a mob consisting mostly of supporters of former President Donald Trump and his lie that the 2020 election was stolen stormed the Capitol, resulting in five deaths, a delay of the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory, and Trump's subsequent impeachment.
Thirty-five House Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting for the bill. However, it is highly unlikely that the measure will garner the requisite support of 10 GOP senators needed to avoid a possible filibuster, as McConnell (R-Ky.) appears poised to use the ultimate obstructionist weapon to torpedo the bill.
GOP intransigence has sharpened Democratic opposition to the filibuster, which is especially robust among progressive lawmakers and campaigners.
"The American people voted for progress, and we need to deliver," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) asserted Sunday. "It makes no sense that one member of the minority party can trigger a minority veto. That's not what people voted for."
There are Democrats in the Senate who say that we need the filibuster for “bipartisanship” while Republicans are literally filibustering an investigation into the insurrection that could have killed them. We don't compromise with white supremacy. End the filibuster. — Cori Bush (@CoriBush) May 21, 2021
A bipartisan deal was reached on a commission investigating the January 6th riot at the Capitol and Republicans are still blocking it. Abolish the filibuster. — Stand Up America (@StandUpAmerica) May 24, 2021
Noting that "there are Republicans who still refuse to acknowledge that Biden won the election," Rep. Pramilia Jayapal (D-Wash.) tweeted Monday that the Senate must "end the filibuster so we can get to work."
There are Republicans who still refuse to acknowledge that Biden won the election. And we're supposed to think that they'll magically work with us on passing our agenda? No. Let's end the filibuster so we can get to work. — Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) May 24, 2021
That work includes passing the For the People Act (pdf), a sweeping pro-democracy bill that would expand voting rights including for former felons, curtail partisan gerrymandering, strengthen ethics rules, limit money in politics and implement the DISCLOSE Act, and make Washington, D.C. a state—among other reforms.
Although the House passed the bill in early March without a single Republican vote, the threat of a GOP filibuster bodes ominously for its Senate prospects. This has increasingly spurred Democratic lawmakers and pro-democracy campaigners to link the possibility of legislative success with ending the filibuster.
It takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass voting rights, a $15 minimum wage, universal health care, gun violence prevention, and civil rights protections.
But Republicans can cut taxes for their wealthy donors and corporations with a simple majority.
How does this make sense? — Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) May 24, 2021
END THE FILIBUSTER. PASS THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT. — Alex Padilla (@AlexPadilla4CA) May 24, 2021
Appearing on WCVB's "On the Record" Sunday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, "I'm ready to sign up and say it's time to get rid of the filibuster."
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"If you can get a majority in the House, get a majority in the Senate, and get the president of the United States to sign off, that should be enough to advance legislation," Warren argued. "And this piece of legislation for an independent commission, that's a good starting place—a reminder why the filibuster needs to go."
This morning, @ewarren is the guest on OTR. She is pushing for legislation that would create a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Senate Republicans say they will filibuster. #WCVB pic.twitter.com/iHfGoeTDF4 — Jennifer Eagan (@Jennifer_Eagan) May 23, 2021
Opponents reiterated the filibuster's racist roots—it has been used to defend slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and opposition to civil and voting rights legislation—in calling for its abolition.
"It's important that we not continue to allow the filibuster to be a tool used to suppress the right to vote, that Black people have fought and died for," Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) told Axios on Thursday.
*Open tweet* "The filibuster is a racist relic predominantly used to prevent a mostly white minority of Americans from losing control of the United States government." *Send tweet* — Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) May 24, 2021
Others reminded voters of McConnell's infamous vow to obstruct then-President Barack Obama's agenda via the filibuster, with former Treasury Secretary Robert Reich tweeting Sunday, "Now, McConnell is doing the same thing to Biden."
A quick history lesson: In 2009, Mitch McConnell vowed to do everything he could to block President Obama's agenda. Now, McConnell is doing the same thing to President Biden. It's time to abolish the filibuster and deliver for the American people. There's no time to waste. — Robert Reich (@RBReich) May 23, 2021
One formidable obstacle impeding potential efforts to end the filibuster is opposition from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.). At a virtual statewide convention of the Arizona Democratic Party on Saturday, committee members passed a resolution calling on Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.)—who has refused to clearly state his stance on the issue—to vote to eliminate the filibuster from Senate rules.
Prior to the convention, hundreds of progressive activists rallied in downtown Phoenix Thursday to urge Kelly and Sinema to end the filibuster.
"The filibuster has been used to stop the Voting Rights Act," Rev. Reginald Walton, executive director of the African American Christian Clergy Coalition, said at the event. "The filibuster has been used to stop the Anti-Lynching Bill. Guess what happens when that happens. People are hurt!"
"They want to mute the voices of Black people," Walton said of Republicans. "They want to mute the voices of Brown people. They want to mute the voices of LGBTQIA people. They want to mute your voices and we cannot let that happen!"
ThreeMarlets on May 25th, 2021 at 13:32 UTC »
At the very least bring back the talking filibuster because at least that required sweat equity be put into it by those filibustering. Plus I doubt all the GOP senators would actively participate in most of these filibusters. Ontop of all that, with a talking filibuster the Democrats could just wait them out and force a vote, especially if it is only a few senators willing to actually try a speak for hours on end.
Nix-7c0 on May 25th, 2021 at 13:13 UTC »
Filibusters aren't even filibusters anymore, and what they used to be was never even an intended part of parliamentary procedure. It's like we forget that this is an invented exploit where you delay a vote by spamming debate as long as you can stand and talk.
It just got formalized along the way, and then abstracted to the weird version we have now.
The idea that you no longer even need to do the standing and talking part is absurd on its own; and doubly so when you consider that it doesn't just delay a vote but somehow now outright cancels it without having to even lift a finger. You just say "I totally would do it for an infinite period" and boom, nobody gets to vote in the normal way our constitution prescribes.
SeeBadd on May 25th, 2021 at 12:15 UTC »
Yeah. At no point did I ever get a vote on most of these crusty republican pricks. They shouldn't control everyone's life as much as they do. Some "small government" party.