The Senate Filibuster Must Be Fixed

If you keep up with the politics in Washington, DC, then you know that the Senate in the last few years has ceased to function as it was intended by our Founding Fathers. Instead of a deliberative body with equal representation from all states, it has become just a tool for Republican obstruction of government.

They have done this by misusing the filibuster -- a political maneuver not included in the Constitution, but included in rules adopted by the Senate itself. By filibustering everything the Democrats try to do, the Republicans have made it so that it takes a super-majority of 60 votes to pass anything (which was never the intention of those who wrote the Constitution).

Some senators, led by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), tried to change the filibuster rules a couple of years ago. But they were short-circuited by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who made a "gentleman's agreement" with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). The agreement was that Republicans would promise not to abuse the filibuster rule anymore if Democrats didn't change it.

The Democrats kept their part of the agreement and left the filibuster rule as it was, but the Republicans broke their word almost immediately. They continued to use the filibuster to obstruct everything that happened in the Senate, showing that they simply cannot be trusted to keep their word.

Now Senator Merkley, with the help of Senator Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D- Massachusetts) and other progressive senators, has once again proposed altering the Senate's filibuster rule. The four major changes they propose are listed in the graphic at the above left. These changes would not do away with the filibuster, but it would ban secret and silent filibusters, making it necessary for any senator wishing to filibuster to take the Senate floor and do an actual talking filibuster.

Even Majority Leader Reid has said that changes must be made, and it was hoped by many of us that he would support the changes proposed by Senator Merkley. But the Republicans are desperately trying to water down the changes to the filibuster, and some Democrats like Senator Carl Levin of Michigan may well go along with them. This would be a serious mistake, since the watered-down rules would allow the Republicans to continue to obstruct the Senate and require a super-majority to pass anything. Here's how Senator Merkley puts it:

Other proposals out there don’t go far enough, and won’t change the culture of obstruction that paralyzes the Senate. Without a talking filibuster, obstructionist Senators will still be able to silently stall any piece of legislation they want without any accountability.

 

If we’re ever going to reinvest in America, hold Wall Street accountable, create clean energy jobs and fight global climate change, and reform our broken campaign finance laws, we need a Senate that works. We must end the silent filibuster.

The senator is right. The silent filibuster must be ended. And progressives across this country need to add their voices to those of Senators Merkley, Udall, Warren, and others to make sure real reform is achieved this time. You can do that by signing this petition of Senator Merkley's, and it wouldn't hurt to contact your own senator (especially if your senator is a Democrat. Let them know your tired of the Republican obstruction, and want the Senate to return to being the deliberative body it was intended to be. Don't let the Senate Democrats wuss out again and give in to the Republicans.