Political Polarization Killed the Filibuster
Senators from both sides of the aisle are lamenting the death of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations, arguing that its demise will further exacerbate partisan dysfunction and congressional gridlock. But the end of the filibuster is a symptom of the death spiral of the Senate into permanent polarization, not its cause.
The history of the filibuster, as recounted by , suggests that it was a historical accident and only became a tool for permanent minority obstruction relatively recently. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution gives each house of Congress the authority to set the rules for its own proceedings. And, in the early years of the Republic, senators could end debate by calling for the “previous question,” which required a simple majority vote. Furthermore, Thomas Jefferson, described by Chafetz as “the great parliamentarian of the early Republic,” said, “No one is to the history and constitutionality of the filibuster with Richard Arenberg, who offers a different perspective.)
