Key Democrats have signaled that — if they secure the White House and both chambers of Congress next year — they will strongly consider using their power to pass laws. EricLevitz writes on their openness to abolishing the filibuster
The revolutionary vanguard. Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP/Shutterstock Over the past six months, life in America has become incalculably worse — but the prospects for modestly improving it through politics next year have gotten considerably better.
And for the bulk of America’s existence, the Senate heeded this wisdom. Although the filibuster has been with us for nearly two centuries, the de facto, 60-vote requirement for all major bills in the Senate has been around for little more than a decade. And yet, despite the fact that it is within the power of any 51 senators to abolish the legislative filibuster, Democrats refused to avail themselves of this authority in 2009.
“I will not stand idly by for four years and watch the Biden administration’s initiatives blocked at every turn,” Chris Coons told Politico last week. “I am gonna try really hard to find a path forward that doesn’t require removing what’s left of the structural guardrails, but if there’s a Biden administration, it will be inheriting a mess, at home and abroad. It requires urgent and effective action.
To be sure, there are still some stragglers in Chuck Schumer’s caucus. It might be safe for a West Virginia senator like Joe Manchin to entertain arguments for disempowering a future GOP minority. But that’s a riskier proposition for Democrats who represent conservative states like [checks notes] California.
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