Back in the minority and seeking to stonewall President Donald Trump, Senate Democrats have transitioned into the latest phase of their love-hate relationship with the filibuster.
Democrats launched their third legislative filibuster of the new Congress Monday evening, denying Republicans the required 60 votes to advance legislation that would bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.
It’s the most powerful tool in the minority’s arsenal, a reality that Democrats are acutely aware of as they acknowledge the hypocrisy in embracing a procedure they for years tried to abolish or overhaul when they were in the majority.
“I love it now,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), who’s long advocated dismantling the legislative filibuster, said with a laugh. “We all like rules that help us, and right now that we’re in the minority, it’s very useful to us. I have no problem using whatever tools are available to us.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a leading anti-Trump messenger who wants major changes to the tool but does not support abolishing it, likened his party’s current mood toward the 60-vote threshold to obeying speed limits.
“You use the rules that exist,” Murphy said. “I might advocate for a higher speed limit, but I still observe the speed limit until it’s changed.”
Democrats previously filibustered a born-alive measure to protect infants born after failed abortions and a bill to sanction International Criminal Court officials for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others over the war in Gaza.
A bipartisan bill to crack down on illegal immigration, the Laken Riley Act, garnered enough Democratic support to overcome filibuster threats. It passed within hours of Trump’s second inauguration and has since become law.
Senate Republicans, who likewise capitalized on the legislative filibuster in the minority, are vowing to preserve its current form in the majority while whacking Democrats.
“If you are a Democrat, it is perfectly fine and not at all hypocritical to plan to abolish the filibuster, should you gain a majority in the Senate, but to use it regularly if you do not,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said in recent floor remarks.
Former Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Joe Manchin (I-WV), who caucused with Democrats, stood in the Democrats’ way to alter or dismantle the filibuster with their majority under former President Joe Biden. Top Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), advocated policy carveouts for things such as voting rights and abortion access to the legislative filibuster to advance a more liberal agenda but were repeatedly rebuffed by the chamber’s centrists.
Only a simple majority is required to enact changes, and Republicans currently control the chamber 53-47.
“I’m not afraid if [Republicans] try to remove it. I ran on removing it,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said. “Possibly, they might realize that it’s an impediment.”
Republicans concede the filibuster is a major obstacle to a more conservative agenda, but they’ve long touted the power it affords the minority as one worth safeguarding.
FILIBUSTER FLIP-FLOP: SENATE DEMOCRATS READY TO EMBRACE THE TOOL TO STONEWALL TRUMP
Carveouts are a slippery slope that would likely give way to tit-for-tat retaliations whenever the majority flips. Both parties have already gradually weakened the filibuster over the last century.
“Part of the Senate is to allow for debate to occur, and we would expect that if [Democrats] disagree with this, if they think that boys and girls should be playing in the same sports, and if they think that boys should be dominating the girls’ sports, then they have a right to defend it,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said.