Staff Reports
Kamala Harris is getting busy outlining her legislative wish list should she ascend to the presidency, but the Democrats find themselves facing a formidable foe: the Senate filibuster. The Vice President’s recent performance at the Democratic National Convention made it clear that she has her sights set on a series of bills mirroring the radical agenda pushed during Joe Biden’s tenure. Among her priorities are attempts to legislate abortion rights, navigate immigration policies, and enforce major voting rights initiatives. Sounds like a sequel to a movie nobody wanted the first time around.
However, the Democrats may have to do more than just strut out their legislative agenda. Even with a dream scenario of gaining full control of Congress, they are still shackled by the filibuster—a tool these same Democrats once appreciated more than they do today. The current threshold requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation isn’t going away without a fight, especially from retiring Democrats who seem to be leaving the battlefield rather than fortifying it.
The implications of this filibuster are significant. The Democrats are staring down a potential 50-50 split in the Senate, with two significant retirements—Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema—removing two influential defenders of the filibuster. It’s not simply a stroll in the park to maintain their thin margins; they need to win every tight battle in competitive states. The Democrats might wish they could just wave a magic wand and achieve their goals without this legislative roadblock, but magic isn’t on the docket—or is it just wishful thinking?
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is singing a grand tune, optimistic that some exceptions might finally be pulled from his hat. The proposed exceptions focus on abortion access and voting rights, clearly laying out the Democrats’ intentions to distort the traditional processes that have maintained a semblance of bipartisanship. Though Schumer believes this is “vital to democracy,” he conveniently overlooks that the modifications he supports could lead to further division in an already polarized Senate.
Washington Examiner: What bills Harris would sign as president — and how the filibuster might stop her https://t.co/Oenlow4sWc
— Ian’s Newsfeed 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@IanHNewsFeed) August 26, 2024
Republicans aren’t just sitting idly by while Democrats plot their next moves. Mitch McConnell’s camp is vehemently slamming any potential changes to the filibuster as a blatant power grab, undermining the structure of governance that has kept both parties in check for decades. Republican candidates are rightly honing in on this hot-button issue during the campaign season, making it clear to constituents that the Democrats aspire to bulldoze their way into power with a dangerously radical agenda. Candidates like Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania are making noise on the trail, warning voters that the Democrats’ obsession with dismantling the filibuster could lead to a cascading wave of extreme policies to reshape America.
As the political chess game unfolds, it is apparent that both sides are gearing up for a showdown over the future of one of the Senate’s most significant traditions. The Democrats might be salivating over how they can push their agenda without the pesky filibuster, but Republicans have a front-row seat to this spectacle—and they aren’t afraid to keep the pressure on.
