Senate ruling gives Democrats a back door around an infrastructure filibuster By Carl Hulse New York Times,Updated April 6, 2021, 5:36 p.m. Email to a Friend Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.ANNA MONEYMAKER/NYT WASHINGTON â Democrats might not have the votes to gut the filibuster, but they were just handed the procedural keys to a backdoor assault on the Senateâs famous obstruction tactic. With a ruling on Monday that Democrats can reuse this yearâs budget blueprint at least once to employ the fast-track reconciliation process, Democrats can conceivably advance multiple spending and tax packages this year alone without a single Republican vote as long as they hold their 50 members together. It is a means of weakening the filibuster without having to take the politically charged vote to do so.