Democratic heavyweights Kamala Harris, Tim Walz and Chuck Schumer have all said they would seek to weaken or eliminate the Senate filibuster if their party wins a landslide on Election Day.
Harris and Walz, the top Democrats in the 2024 election cycle, have each said they believe the filibuster should be abolished, while Schumer said in August that Democrats will secure a Senate majority. He indicated that he would move to abolish the filibuster if possible. The filibuster is a key Senate rule that requires 60 votes to pass most major legislation, rather than a simple majority of 51, frustrating small majorities seeking to pass transformative legislation by narrow margins. (Related: Months after filibustering Tim Scott police reform bill, Elizabeth Warren calls filibuster racist)
Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY): “You won’t stop our passage.” [gun control]. If the filibuster holds us back, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court disagrees, we will expand it.”
What happened to “defending democracy”? pic.twitter.com/wivfbkqPAo
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 2, 2022
Recently, Waltz proposed He and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were said to be on the same page about abolishing the filibuster as they played video games on a livestream Sunday.
“I don’t know where you stand, but I think you and I are probably the same on the filibuster,” Walz said during the broadcast.
“Oh yeah, that has to be removed,” Ocasio-Cortez responded.
Walz also supported abolishing the electoral college at an October fundraiser with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, but the Harris campaign later said his comments did not represent the campaign’s position. I tried to organize it.
In September, Harris said she supported eliminating the filibuster to codify abortion access protections in Roe v. Wade.
“I think we should abolish the filibuster on Roe,” Harris said. “And I’ve gotten to the point where we need 51 votes to actually put back into law the protection of reproductive freedom and the ability of every individual and every woman to make decisions about their own bodies without being dictated to by the government.” Please lead us.” What should we do? “
Schumer, who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus, also indicated he would seek a filibuster if his party wins a majority on Election Day. Senate Democrats tried to end the filibuster to pass a massive “Build Back Better” plan early in President Joe Biden’s term, but then-Democratic Sens. Krysten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin ( West Virginia) resisted the effort. Despite tremendous pressure from activists.
Ultimately, by using the budget reconciliation process, Democrats were able to pass Biden’s signature climate bill, an abbreviated version of his “Build Back Better” plan, to curb inflation without a single Republican vote. Act (IRA) was successfully passed.
“We voted yes to 48, and of course Sinema and Manchin voted no. That’s why we couldn’t change the rules. Well, they’re both gone,” Schumer said in August. spoke to reporters during the Democratic National Convention, NBC News. reported. “Ruben Gallego is for it and we have 51. So even if we lose Manchin, we still have 50.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that eliminating the filibuster would allow Democrats to add two new states to the country and ensure that Democratic senators are elected, which would allow the party to maintain its current position. He warned that it would allow them to pursue major agendas that were out of their reach.
If Democrats were able to weaken or eliminate the filibuster sufficiently, “they would admit the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as two new states — meaning there would be four Democratic senators forever — and elect the Supreme Court. We will pursue it,” McConnell said. Owensboro Times In August.
Notably, the late former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suspended the filibuster for judicial nominations in 2013 to help pass the Senate with nominees blocked by former President Barack Obama; also helped pave the way for former President Donald Trump to appoint three justices. During the term of the Supreme Court, According to On CNN.
The Harris-Waltz campaign and Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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