If you could kill the filibuster right now, would you?
Joe Biden isn't quite ready to kill it. Joe Manchin, D-WV, wants to keep it. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, is not discussing it at all.
But it seems that every Republican in the country is counting on the filibuster. If the GOP can hogtie the fledgling John Lewis Voting Rights bill, they can push through more than 200 proposed state laws that are aimed to limit future voting to probable Republicans. It seems that limiting minority votes is a positive good in conservative eyes.
The voting rights bill would also limit gerrymandering, which has garnered Republican wins in areas that would otherwise go to Democrats.
It's that prospect -- losing the voting rights bill -- that has brought more filibuster-busting lawmakers out of the woodworks. Besides Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who leads the anti-filibuster push, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-MN), and John Tester (D-MT) have recently said they're leaning toward killing it.
(You already know this, but: The filibuster is a way of running out the clock on legislation that would otherwise come up for a vote in the Senate.)
In this Congress (after "filibuster reform" a few decades back), the Senate can set aside a filibuster if ten Republicans agree to let the bill go to a vote.
The Senate can vote away the filibuster with 50 Senate votes plus a vote from VP Kamala Harris. It isn't happening now because -- short answer -- Joe Manchin of West Virginia has vowed not to vote to eliminate the filibuster.
Still, it may be absolutely necessary to do for Democrats to make legislative progress. We've seen enough partisan biting and bickering on the COVID economic stimulus bill to be confident that very little will happen if Democrats have to wheedle 10 Republicans for every piece of legislation for the next two years.
I'm ready to see the filibuster die. It's time to play hardball with the hardbit. Vote it out!
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