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From the Editor: To Save the Senate and American Democracy, Reinstate the ‘talking filibuster’.
By Seth Stottlemyer
Jan. 17, 2022
There is no question that the general rancor and polarization that has gripped the country in recent years has infected the United States Senate as well. We don’t talk to each other and rarely engage in substantive, civil conversation. Similarly, the members of the Senate have followed suit rarely engaging with their colleagues across the aisle and publicly standing up to face the American people and explain their positions.
The way current rules are set up, for legislation to even advance to the floor for debate 60 of the 100 members must vote affirmatively to do so. Meaning the minority party can hold up important legislation from even being considered and debated publicly and all they have to do is call up the cloak room and register their objection to it advancing for debate on the floor. All it takes is 41 members to do this and legislation is dead in its tracks. This is a secret process that is kept in the shadows from the rest of us to see. There is the possibility that the rules could be amended to change the number to a simple majority (50 Senators plus the tie breaker vote from the VP) in order to advance legislation through to the debate phase. It seems, however, that Senators Manchin and Sinema are completely entrenched and uninterested in voting to change any current rules that would advance The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. There could also just be a carve out from the filibuster for just this one important act, just as there has been a carveout for the debt ceiling. In theory this change could be made, and it should be made. This change would be in an effort to compromise on the larger issue of the filibuster without a wholesale push to eliminate it.
If this change would be deemed acceptable enough to the two hold out Senators, then the effort to require the talking filibuster would move to the table. And of course all of these different attempts to reform the system are on the table currently and being intensely considered by Senate leadership. Instead of the status quo, which allows for a Senator to simply object without further explanation or effort, the talking filibuster would force lawmakers out of the shadows, to stand up in front of their colleagues and their constituents, have meaningful discussions, and defend their positions. As it stands now lawmakers can simply be obstructionist with little or no effort. The GOP has elevated this to an art form in recent years.
The filibuster must be reformed for the sake of transparency and the health of our democracy. Over the decades its application has been allowed to expand, wrapping its tentacles further and tighter around the neck of the legislative process. Instead of protecting the rights of the minority party it has been weaponized and results in creating a tyranny of the minority party and their ability to kill legislation that has broad public support. There is no more important issue than providing protection to American voters from the right-wing voter suppression efforts under way in dozens of states across the country. The talking filibuster must be bypassed or amended or our very democracy itself could be in jeopardy.
From the Editor: To Save the Senate and American Democracy, Reinstate the ‘talking filibuster’.
By Seth Stottlemyer
Jan. 17, 2022
There is no question that the general rancor and polarization that has gripped the country in recent years has infected the United States Senate as well. We don’t talk to each other and rarely engage in substantive, civil conversation. Similarly, the members of the Senate have followed suit rarely engaging with their colleagues across the aisle and publicly standing up to face the American people and explain their positions.
The way current rules are set up, for legislation to even advance to the floor for debate 60 of the 100 members must vote affirmatively to do so. Meaning the minority party can hold up important legislation from even being considered and debated publicly and all they have to do is call up the cloak room and register their objection to it advancing for debate on the floor. All it takes is 41 members to do this and legislation is dead in its tracks. This is a secret process that is kept in the shadows from the rest of us to see. There is the possibility that the rules could be amended to change the number to a simple majority (50 Senators plus the tie breaker vote from the VP) in order to advance legislation through to the debate phase. It seems, however, that Senators Manchin and Sinema are completely entrenched and uninterested in voting to change any current rules that would advance The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. There could also just be a carve out from the filibuster for just this one important act, just as there has been a carveout for the debt ceiling. In theory this change could be made, and it should be made. This change would be in an effort to compromise on the larger issue of the filibuster without a wholesale push to eliminate it.
If this change would be deemed acceptable enough to the two hold out Senators, then the effort to require the talking filibuster would move to the table. And of course all of these different attempts to reform the system are on the table currently and being intensely considered by Senate leadership. Instead of the status quo, which allows for a Senator to simply object without further explanation or effort, the talking filibuster would force lawmakers out of the shadows, to stand up in front of their colleagues and their constituents, have meaningful discussions, and defend their positions. As it stands now lawmakers can simply be obstructionist with little or no effort. The GOP has elevated this to an art form in recent years.
The filibuster must be reformed for the sake of transparency and the health of our democracy. Over the decades its application has been allowed to expand, wrapping its tentacles further and tighter around the neck of the legislative process. Instead of protecting the rights of the minority party it has been weaponized and results in creating a tyranny of the minority party and their ability to kill legislation that has broad public support. There is no more important issue than providing protection to American voters from the right-wing voter suppression efforts under way in dozens of states across the country. The talking filibuster must be bypassed or amended or our very democracy itself could be in jeopardy.