Recent Debate Questions Democrats’ Case Against Filibuster
There are two reasons why the Senate should eliminate the filibuster, according to Democrats. First, Republicans use the filibuster to make it harder for Democrats in the Senate to pass legislation. Second, the filibuster empowers a minority of senators to block legislation supported by a majority.
Yet, a recent Senate debate on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (S. 937 [1]) suggests that the Democrats’ effort to eliminate the filibuster is not just to overcome minority obstruction or uphold majority rule principles. This is because Democrats consistently prevented senators from debating S. 937 by keeping the legislation off of the Senate floor while negotiations over how to structure its consideration unfolded behind closed doors. And Democrats imposed a particular set of rules when the Senate eventually debated the bill to structure their deliberations. Those rules violated majority-rule principles by empowering Democrats to block two Republican amendments backed by a majority of senators.