As Republicans are set to take control in Washington, D.C., members of the Democratic Party were reportedly finding a new love for a procedural bulwark some had sought to abolish.
A power shift in the nation’s capital found the party so frequently pearl-clutching over democracy once again proving policy positions are different based on whether or not they were in control. Now, as Congressional Republicans prepared to ride their down ballot success, courtesy of President-elect Trump, into the majority, leftist leaders had a new song to sing about the filibuster.
Having previously had their 2013 filibuster carveout on cabinet picks and judicial nominees countered by Republicans with an expansion to include Supreme Court confirmations in 2017, a number of high-ranking Democratic senators’ concerns were reported by the Washington Examiner.
“I’d be lying if I said we’d be in a better position without the filibuster,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal. “We have a responsibility to stop autocratic and long-headed abuse of power or policy, and we’ll use whatever tools we have available. We’re not going to fight this battle with one hand tied behind our back.”
Likewise, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin contended, “We had to live with it when we were in the majority.”
Of course, the Whip’s take belied the fact that the Democratic majority had relied on now-outgoing Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona who ultimately had left the party and remained in favor of the filibuster.
In fact, Sinema had snarked at the backtrack from Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal who’d stated after Trump’s victory, “I think, obviously, would I be, am I championing getting rid of the filibuster now when the Senate has the trifecta? No, but had we had the trifecta, I would have been because we have to show that government can deliver.”
“You don’t say,” responded the independent senator on X.
You don’t say. https://t.co/HsM7ARiiQ1
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) November 11, 2024
Having previously described the three-fifths majority threshold as “downright dangerous” and “a slap in the face to majoritarianism,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy was on record saying, “You play with the rules that exist.”
Meanwhile, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz seemed to acknowledge the inherent flip-flop among Democratic peers and said, “I’m going to try not to make a mess of my position on this one.”
Speaking from across the aisle, recently elected Senate Leader John Thune (R-SD) had expressed, “I find it ironic that a party that has spent a fair amount of time this election cycle talking about the importance of preserving our democracy seems intent on embracing the thoroughly undemocratic notion that only one party should be making decisions in this country.”
The filibuster will be safe under Republican control. It encourages compromise and helps ensure that all Americans, not just those whose party is in the majority, have a voice in the legislative process. pic.twitter.com/PFNKOWvDlZ
— Senator John Thune (@SenJohnThune) November 21, 2024
“Democrats continue to talk out of both sides of their mouth, and we’re seeing it again right now,” added Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R). “They all campaigned to eliminate the filibuster, and now they’re scared to death of it.”
Maintaining his contrary record to the prevailing narrative of his party, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman spoke in earnest as he acknowledged, “The one emergency brake would be the filibuster.”
“I’m not going to clutch my pearls if they [change] that, because, hey, we’ve talked about that, too,” said Fetterman. “I would be surprised if Trump doesn’t immediately call for that.”
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