Warren Calls For Eliminating the Filibuster
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is set to call Friday for eliminating the filibuster, publicly endorsing for the first time a drastic change to Senate rules that would allow Democrats to pass sweeping, progressive bills with only a simple majority if they controlled the Senate in the future.
The Massachusetts Democrat, who’s running for president, plans to make the announcement at a conference hosted in Manhattan by the National Action Network — a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton. According to excerpts of her speech shared by her presidential campaign, Warren will describe the filibuster as having been used for generations as “a tool to block progress on racial justice” and will rally Democrats to join her in the cause.
“When Democrats next have power, we should be bold and clear: We’re done with two sets of rules — one for the Republicans and one for the Democrats,” Warren plans to say. “And that means when Democrats have the White House again, if Mitch McConnell tries to do what he did to President Obama and puts small-minded partisanship ahead of solving the massive problems facing this country, then we should get rid of the filibuster.”
She is expected to reference a bill passed in the Senate last year that made lynching a federal crime, and point out that it was first introduced in 1918.
“It nearly became the law back then. It passed the House in 1922. But it got killed in the Senate — by a filibuster. And then it got killed again. And again. And again,” Warren will say. “More than 200 times. An entire century of obstruction because a small group of racists stopped the entire nation from doing what was right.”
Warren’s announcement appeared intended to send a clear message that if she were to become president she would aggressively pursue a liberal agenda and would hope to enact into law bills that likely would not have buy-in from Republicans. Her remarks are also likely to thrust the controversial issue of the filibuster in front of other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
What I like about this is not only that it’s right on the merits, but that she puts the filibuster in its true historical context as a tool for the worst reactionary forces in American politics. A refreshing contrast to the nostalgia file too many of her colleagues are immersed in.