The recent debate in Washington over Democratic proposals to change the Senate filibuster was only the latest example of political forces seeking to change rules and procedures in order to advance their perceived interests.
A few years ago, Donald Trump urged the narrow Republican Senate majority to dispense with the filibuster to overcome Democratic obstruction. Mitch McConnell wisely declined to make the effort. Then it was Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s turn to propose a rule change to ease passage of their preferred election bills. Making much the same argument that McConnell had made, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin bucked their party to preserve the filibuster. Alongside principled arguments about the protection of minority rights and promotion of deliberation and consensus, Sinema and Manchin have argued that elimination of the filibuster could easily come back to haunt their party in short order, whenever another Republican president with a small Senate majority would be able to impose his will.
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