Dem Hypocrisy: Schumer Takes Aim at the Filibuster

Despite opposition from members of his own caucus, Chuck Schumer vowed to force a vote on eliminating the filibuster this month.

Fox News: Senate Democrats are gearing up for a frontal assault on the legislative filibuster in the new year after their efforts to pass an elections bill were stymied by Republicans in 2021. . . Schumer’s promise is the clearest indication yet that Democrats will try to set a new precedent in the Senate to neuter the legislative filibuster, which requires a supermajority of 60 votes for the body to start or end debate on most legislation.

Many Democratic senators called for such action but because Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., remain opposed to it, Schumer has not made the effort. There’s no indication that either of them will change that stance in the new year, which means Schumer’s effort will likely fail in the face of unified GOP opposition and division in his own party.

The push by Democrats to end the legislative filibuster is blatant hypocrisy. Just five years ago, Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor with a strong defense of the legislative filibuster — saying “no Senator would like to see this happen.”

SEN. SCHUMER in 2017: “The legislative filibuster… is the most important distinction between the Senate and the House. Without the 60-vote threshold for legislation, the Senate becomes a majoritarian institution like the House… no Senator would like to see that happen." pic.twitter.com/FXHN3nIx0I

— Senate Republican Communications Center (@SRCC) March 16, 2021

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said that Democrats would use the rule change to push radical, partisan policies such as packing the Supreme Court and adding Washington, D.C. as a state. He also warned Democrats that they weren’t prepared to operate in a “scorched earth” Senate.

Bottom Line: Democrats’ hypocrisy on the filibuster would permanently damage the Senate as an institution and clear the path for radical policy changes.