Abolishing the Filibuster Is Unavoidable for Democrats
Even if Democrats regain unified control of the White House and Congress in 2020, the fate of their ambitious legislative agenda will still likely hinge on a fundamental question: Do they try to end the Senate filibuster?
If the party chooses to keep the filibuster, it faces a daunting prospect: Democrats elected primarily by voters in states at the forefront of the country’s demographic, cultural, and economic changes will likely have their agenda blocked by Republican senators largely representing the smaller, rural states least touched by all of those changes. In fact, since the Senate gives each state two seats, the filibuster allows Republican senators from states representing only about one-fifth of the country’s population to be in a position to stymie Democratic legislation.
Although the Democratic 2020 contenders are promising sweeping action on issues ranging from gun control to immigration, none of those proposals has any realistic chance of becoming law if the Senate rules requiring 60 votes to break a filibuster remain in place. “The argument over the filibuster really crystallizes if you actually win and you look out at the coming year,” says Adam Jentleson, who served as deputy chief of staff to former Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid. On most issues, “you cannot count to 60 [votes], period. It becomes a very clear question of, Are we going to get anything done or not?”
Such considerations led Reid, , to urge Democrats to abolish the defending the rule.
