Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Progressives should oppose filibuster reform

Opinion

Mitch McConnell

Ending the filibuster would likely allow Sen. Mitch McConnell to undo any accomplishments of the progressive movement, writes Garson.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Garson is legal counsel and chief of staff for the Bridge Alliance, which houses The Fulcrum.

I’m a proud American progressive, which is why it alarms me to see leaders of the progressive movement relentlessly pushing to reform or abolish the Senate’s legislative filibuster.

For those who don’t know, in order to pass a bill in the Senate, you must first end debate on the measure. If somebody objects to ending debate, it’s called a filibuster, and 60 senators must vote to end debate in order for the bill to proceed. Filibuster reform would change this rule and make it possible to pass legislation with less than 60 votes.

I oppose filibuster reform because I believe it would severely backfire for American progressivism, as it already has with the Supreme Court.


Unfortunately, progressives who share my concerns are told to sit down, or are treated as traitors to the movement. That’s because the movement has become hostile to well-intentioned disagreement – a mindset that has existed for a while and was amplified with the election of Donald Trump.

Trump becoming president threw many people – myself included – into a existential political crisis, which reached a crescendo four years later when he refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. Since then, progressives have been on high alert.

That alertness has created a flight-or-fight, us-vs.-them mentality, and as my father Jeff Garson once put it, “Fight or flight is specifically designed to neutralize or ‘annihilate’ the will of the other.” This makes it hard to stray from your political “tribe.” If you do, there’s a good chance you will be rejected by your traditional allies. The end result is a progressive echo chamber that has outlived the Trump presidency.

That echo chamber has identified the legislative filibuster as an obstacle to necessary reform. The solution, progressive leaders insist, is to either eliminate the filibuster or, at the very least, reform it. Specifically, change the rules so that bills involving fundamental rights (like voting, health care, etc.) aren’t subject to the filibuster.

On its face, the hostility toward the filibuster and the push to change it make sense. The filibuster has become a defining feature of the Senate’s frustratingly cumbersome legislative process, as it gives a minority of Senators the power to stop a vote on a bill. Moreover, unlike in the famous film “ Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ” (or the real life example of Wendy Davis in Texas), these senators don't need to do anything but vote against ending debate. There are no prolonged speeches or showings of commitment via endurance.

But, as with many “solutions” that come from echo chambers, I believe the sort of filibuster reform being advocated today would be dangerously short-sighted. While carving out exceptions to the filibuster might allow Democrats to pass certain reforms this year, I believe it would open the door for an aggressively conservative agenda – one that would make Ronald Reagan blush – when the tables turn and Republicans control the Senate.

That fear is not a fantasy – indeed, we already saw it happen with the Supreme Court.

Back in 2013, Senate Democrats carved out exceptions to the nominations filibuster for all but Supreme Court nominees (President Barack Obama had already had his two nominees confirmed to the top court). This cleared the path for a number of Obama’s nominees, both in the courts and in his own administration. The very next year, that path was blocked again after Republicans took back control of the Senate.

Two and a half years later, Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Democrats tried to filibuster his nomination as retaliation for Sen. Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s top Republican, denying Merrick Garland a vote. Republicans responded by eliminating the last scrap of the nominations filibuster, thereby allowing Gorsuch, and the far more controversial Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, to be confirmed by the barest of majorities. Yes, Garland should have been confirmed to fill the late Antonin Scalia’s seat, but the end result of the 2013 “carve out” is a conservative supermajority for the foreseeable future, and the demise of Roe v. Wade and perhaps other formerly protected rights.

I believe that carving out exceptions to the legislative filibuster would lead to a similar result. While the existence of the filibuster makes passing new laws very difficult, the flipside is that it also makes undoing laws and programs (like the Affordable Care Act) very difficult. And, as mentioned, it serves as a barrier against a conservative agenda.

These arguments and comparisons are nothing new (Pete Weichlein of the Former Members of Congress Association previously discussed some of them), but pro-filibuster perspectives are almost absent in the progressive bubble. A short time ago, I searched The Factual for the word “filibuster” and found that left-leaning opinions ranged from relative neutrality to hardened vitriol. I didn’t find any defenses of the filibuster.

Sure, without the filibuster Democrats might be able to pass climate change and voting rights legislation this year, but Republicans are well-positioned to take back the Senate and House in November. Additionally, it’s unclear who will be favored in the presidential election in 2024. If Republicans win back the White House, Democrats will have cleared the way for Republicans to both undo the immediate, post-filibuster laws and implement at the federal level all of the state-level policies that have the progressive movement concerned (think voting restrictions, reduced Medicaid spending, more anti-abortion laws, etc.).

Is this guaranteed to happen? No. But we know from history that there is a substantial risk, and the progressive movement doesn’t seem to be acknowledging that risk. That’s what happens when dissent is shut down before it has a chance to make its case.

And that’s all I’m asking for – robust debate. Before we fundamentally alter lawmaking in America, let’s have a discussion about what’s at stake and the costs and benefits of different courses of action. We need space for well-intentioned progressives to feel comfortable voicing concerns and disagreements with the rest of the movement.

Right now, I don’t think that’s possible and I’m afraid that the rewards will be reaped by the very people who view progressivism as the enemy.

Read More

Yes, They Are Trying To Kill Us
Provided

Yes, They Are Trying To Kill Us

In the rush to “dismantle the administrative state,” some insist that freeing people from “burdensome bureaucracy” will unleash thriving. Will it? Let’s look together.

A century ago, bureaucracy was minimal. The 1920s followed a worldwide pandemic that killed an estimated 17.4–50 million people. While the virus spread, the Great War raged; we can still picture the dehumanizing use of mustard gas and trench warfare. When the war ended, the Roaring Twenties erupted as an antidote to grief. Despite Prohibition, life was a party—until the crash of 1929. The 1930s opened with a global depression, record joblessness, homelessness, and hunger. Despair spread faster than the pandemic had.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan

Photo illustration by Alex Bandoni/ProPublica. Source images: Chicago History Museum and eobrazy

Getty Images

Millions Could Lose Housing Aid Under Trump Plan

Some 4 million people could lose federal housing assistance under new plans from the Trump administration, according to experts who reviewed drafts of two unpublished rules obtained by ProPublica. The rules would pave the way for a host of restrictions long sought by conservatives, including time limits on living in public housing, work requirements for many people receiving federal housing assistance and the stripping of aid from entire families if one member of the household is in the country illegally.

The first Trump administration tried and failed to implement similar policies, and renewed efforts have been in the works since early in the president’s second term. Now, the documents obtained by ProPublica lay out how the administration intends to overhaul major housing programs that serve some of the nation’s poorest residents, with sweeping reforms that experts and advocates warn will weaken the social safety net amid historically high rents, home prices and homelessness.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s Ultimatums and the Erosion of Presidential Credibility

Donald Trump

YouTube

Trump’s Ultimatums and the Erosion of Presidential Credibility

On Friday, October 3rd, President Donald Trump issued a dramatic ultimatum on Truth Social, stating this is the “LAST CHANCE” for Hamas to accept a 20-point peace proposal backed by Israel and several Arab nations. The deadline, set for Sunday at 6:00 p.m. EDT, was framed as a final opportunity to avoid catastrophic consequences. Trump warned that if Hamas rejected the deal, “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” and that its fighters would be “hunted down and killed.”

Ordinarily, when a president sets a deadline, the world takes him seriously. In history, Presidential deadlines signal resolve, seriousness, and the weight of executive authority. But with Trump, the pattern is different. His history of issuing ultimatums and then quietly backing off has dulled the edge of his threats and raised questions about their strategic value.

Keep ReadingShow less
From Fragility to Resilience: Fixing America’s Economic and Political Fault Lines

fractured foundation and US flag

AI generated

From Fragility to Resilience: Fixing America’s Economic and Political Fault Lines

This series began with a simple but urgent question: What’s gone wrong with America’s economic policies, and how can we begin to fix them? The story so far has revealed not only financial instability but also deeper structural weaknesses that leave families, small businesses, and entire communities far more vulnerable than they should be.

In the first two articles, “Running on Empty” and “Crash Course,” we examined how middle-class families, small businesses, and retirees are increasingly caught in a web of debt and financial uncertainty. We also examined how Wall Street’s speculative excesses, deregulation, and shadow banking have pushed the financial system to the brink. Finally, we warned that Donald Trump’s economic agenda doesn’t address these problems—it magnifies them. Together, these earlier articles painted a picture of a system skating on thin ice, where even small shocks could trigger widespread crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less