Democrats have a sweeping agenda. Should a Senate tradition stop them?
The only thing preventing Democrats from enacting their sweeping agenda on everything from gun safety to voting rights is a long-standing Senate procedure: the filibuster.
Amid a pandemic, crumbling infrastructure, racial injustice, two recent mass shootings, and one of the most contentious presidential elections in modern times, Democrats in Congress argue that America’s challenges are too urgent to wait for the elusive bipartisan consensus needed to overcome a GOP filibuster.
“[Republican Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell cannot have a veto over everything that Congress does. But that’s what the filibuster gives him,” says Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat. “He exercises that veto to stand in the way of core reforms that our nation needs – protect voting, fight climate change, put basic gun safety regulations in place.”
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives just passed a pair of gun-safety bills, which have taken on more urgency after gunmen killed 18 people
Debate over principle of minority rightsA source of gridlock“What you sow, you reap”
