Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) relinquished his block on the Senate organizing resolution Monday night after demanding that Democrats promise not to abolish the filibuster and dramatically curtail the minority’s power.
I understand the hesitancy, but literally, our Democracy is in the balance. If Republicans gain control again, the filibuster will be the least of our worries.
The way you get rid of the filibuster is on one issue at a time. Make the Republicans use the filibuster to block legislation on a particular issue enough times that the Dems get frustrated and change the rules so that particular issue can’t be filibustered. Rinse and repeat. Harry Reid would not have been able to nuke the filibuster in its entirety. Instead he nuked it for a couple of important things and left the rest intact. That will work in today’s environment too.
“That issue would have to be important to the Democratic holdouts. If Sinema and Manchin are truly as opposed to abolishing the filibuster as they say, it won’t matter when Schumer decides to have the fight — McConnell’s power to block legislation is safe.”
Warned about Manchin D .VA. (should be and R)a few weeks ago and he is living up to being a snake in the grass,and he has a cohort reptile Krsteyn Sinema. D AZ (should be and R).
Along the same line of reasoning, I believe it would be easier to convince both Manchin and Sinema to nuke the filibuster for a concrete issue near and dear to their hearts rather than an abstract principle.
All the voter registration drives,marching,chanting VOTING,to be here again.Beyond words.
the last four times a President went into a midterm election with all three branches, voters flipped at least one of them.
Straight from the Tommy Tuberville School of Federal Government. The next time voters flip the Judicial Branch will be the first time voters flip the Judicial Branch.
I get that you’re frustrated. I am too. But Trump carried West virginia by almost 40 points in 2020, and by more than that in 2016. Manchin is probably much more liberal, compared to his State’s partisan lean, than just about any other Senator.
But until then, none of this “should be a Republican” BS. If he were a Republican, we’d have McConnell instead of Schumer as majority leader. And he’s going to vote for hundreds of billions of dollars of Democratic priorities in the next two years.
i know you know all that. But just saying…
All that said, he should realize it is in his own interest to be part of a party that actually helps people…
That issue would have to be important to the Democratic holdouts. If Sinema and Manchin are truly as opposed to abolishing the filibuster as they say…
Are we sure that Sinema and Manchin are the only holdouts? (I truly don’t know.)
“Here” is a stop on the route, not the end of the road. Let’s stay clear-eyed and cool-headed while this plays out. Manchin And Sinema are having a moment, but America can and will rise up to restore integrity to its democracy. Pay close attention to the companies that are turning off the “even-handed giving” faucet to political campaigns and personalities. Some people are done, and will no longer coddle crazy politicians.
Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) also foolishly voted for Wm. Barr because of his “experience,” though in their fundamental shallowness & ignorance they failed to take his wretched history into account. And now they choose to be McConnell’s filibuster lapdogs. If you live in AZ or WV, tell them of your dismay.
“WV will be happy to get these things”
“AZ will be happy to get these things”
That’s Chuckie’s “Happy Speech” to Manchin and Sinema… at the right occasions…
…and McConnell still has the filibuster (just not THESE occasions 
)
Manchin is the only Dem option in ruby red WV. Replacing him with an R is not an improvement.
My guess is that Manchin survives as a Dem on hostile ground by playing red notes on culture-war issues like guns, but also advocates for robust federal investment and worker protections…as one might expect for a largely poor, rural, white state.
Which means he will have personal priorities in areas like economic stimulus, healthcare and infrastructure: agendas he’s now poised to deliver as part of a Dem majority headed by a centrist president.
Schumer needs to set Manchin up to win big on these things, vis-a-vis subcommittee appointments and legislation, and then challenge him to make it happen after all his big “bipartisan compromise” talk–or else reveal what he IS willing to do short of nuking the filibuster to make it into something other than a painless minority veto.
Drum up some “Gang of Ten” GOP moderate bloc that pledges a floor vote on all bills meeting certain criteria? Agree to revert the filibuster to its old marathon debate incarnation? Maybe allow more annual reconciliation bills? Something has to give here. If Manchin wants any accomplishments to run on when he’s up next, he has to help solve the problem.
Excellent Post
I might make the Voting Rights Act one of the first pieces of legislation to see if it could get bipartisan support. If not…
Senate rules must overrule the will of the people? This is why we have gridlock and why a president was allowed to stay in office after they all knew he had committed a crime.
All Trump sees is weakness and greed in the sainted Conservative Movement and takes advantage of it. He never has learned a lesson in his entire life.
And neither have any of those Senators and Congressmen who wanted to nullify the votes of some states where they didn’t like the legal outcome. They will give him a Mulligan…again…and pretend that they are not frauds with absolutely no integrity.
That’s no small thing either. It took flipping R seats in AZ and GA to get to 50-50. We couldn’t even win races in Maine or Iowa to get there. The Senate is pretty bleak for Democrats.
Let’s do this again, Democrat Senators represent forty million more Americans than rethugs.
I appreciate your optimism, even though I might not share it, and I hope that you’re right.
