As the Biden administration’s first full week comes to an end, all eyes are on the Democrat-controlled Senate with one issue front and center: the fate of the filibuster.
The filibuster is a tool Senators use to ensure that a bill needs a 60-vote majority to be passed. For the minority party, it is incredibly important – it means the majority can’t necessarily do whatever it wants.
Recently, the 60-vote majority has threshold important COVID-related legislation, and critics say it blocks progress on vital priorities.
Defenders insist that if you eliminate the filibuster and require only a simple 51-vote majority to pass legislation, that would enable the ruling party to steamroll through their agenda.
Now that Democrats find themselves in the majority, they are divided: Some want to end the filibuster to advance their legislative priorities; Others believe the filibuster helps ensure major legislation is passed with some bipartisan support.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has yet to commit. “The work must move forward, preferably with our Republican colleagues, but without them if we must,” Schumer said about COVID-19 relief in a private meeting with Democratic Senators. “Time is of the essence to address this crisis. We’re keeping all options open on the table.”
One of the more outspoken defenders of the filibuster is Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate Minority Whip, who insisted in a statement that the filibuster is important for representation: “All Americans, whether or not they’re in the majority, deserve to be represented. But it’s particularly important when you consider that our country is pretty evenly split down the middle.”
“While the advantage sometimes goes to Democrats and sometimes to Republicans, the truth is that our country is pretty evenly split,” he added. “Which means any attempt to disenfranchise the minority party means disenfranchising half the country.”
“Now, of course the party in power generally gets to accomplish more than the minority party – and that’s appropriate,” Thune conceded. “The country may be fairly evenly divided, but sometimes it wants to move more toward one side or the other. What is not appropriate is to eliminate meaningful minority representation – which would be the consequence of eliminating the legislative filibuster.”
Today’s filibuster has become an issue largely because it’s being used more than ever before. Rather than ensuring a democratic process, it’s created a lot of gridlock.
Between 1917 and 1970, there were roughly 17 votes to end filibusters each year. In the 115th Congress, which met in 2017-2018, there were 168 filibuster-ending votes, reflecting just how frequently this tool is used to obstruct the legislative process.
Another option would be to reform the filibuster. Reforms could include imposing debate time limits, eliminating debate for parts of the legislative process, or just redefining when the filibuster can be used.
A tool that Congressional Democrats could use to pass Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill is through reconciliation, a process by which certain budgetary measures can pass through the legislature using a simple 51-vote majority.
Congressional Democrats are drafting a budget reconciliation bill that would start the process to pass Biden’s relief package with a simple 51-vote Senate majority — rather than the 60-vote threshold typically needed in the Senate to advance legislation. The goal would be passage by March, when jobless benefits, housing assistance and other aid is set to expire.
This isn’t an unprecedented move – Congressional Republicans utilized the reconciliation process to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, former president Donald Trump’s signature legislative achievement.
Meantime, Majority Leader Schumer plans to start debate on the new COVID-19 relief bill this week. Democrats have emphasized they want the bill passed by March.
“The rescue package that President Biden has sent to us is one of the highest importance and sense of urgency,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “So, I hope we can really roll up our sleeves and get that done” by early Feb.
This whole discussion speaks to the partisan rancor in Washington, and highlights the difficult job that both President Joe Biden and Capitol Hill legislators have ahead of them.
