'A tremendous sea change': Democrats see a path to remaking the Senate filibuster

[DonViejo]

Between Joe Manchin's support for a "talking filibuster" and unified GOP opposition to the popular Covid-19 relief bill, some lawmakers see an opening.

March 13, 2021, 6:33 AM EST
By Sahil Kapur

WASHINGTON — When Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia opened the door this week to making it more "painful" for to block legislation, some Democrats saw a game-changing opportunity to remake the Senate and lift a key obstacle to a progressive agenda.

It was a telling shift for Manchin, the most outspoken Democratic supporter of the filibuster — an apparent sign of party consensus that the rule can be softened, if not abolished. Some progressives say his idea would open the door to passing ambitious bills to bolster voting rights and gun control, which cleared the House and are headed for a fatal crash with the Senate's 60-vote threshold.

"It’s very significant," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the chief antagonist of the filibuster, said in an interview. "There’s been a tremendous sea change in the Democratic caucus, saying: 'We were elected to solve problems, not to apologize because [Senate Republican leader Mitch] McConnell stopped us. That excuse will not fly, nor should it."

Merkley said he has been gauging interest among senators about a "talking filibuster," which Manchin backed. The idea is to test obstructing senators by forcing them to talk in order to halt legislation — the West Virginian alluded to the actor Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

more
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/tremendous-sea-change-democrats-see-path-remaking-senate-filibuster-n1261000

[sboatcar]

1. Isn't that what the original filibuster was?

They had to keep talking the whole time to keep the vote from happening?

[Wounded Bear]

5. Yes, and it was fairly rare back in the day...

it is only since they made it easier and less painful that it has turned into a tool to totally block any legislation at all that the minority party doesn't like.

[PatSeg]

6. Yes, Mr. Smith goes to Washington type filibuster

This is how it should be. In that context, I can see a purpose for the filibuster. As it is now, it is just a way for the minority party to control the senate. So they end up holding the power all the time, very undemocratic.

[cannabis_flower]

16. A more recent and real life example

On the last day of a special session in 2013, Democrat Wendy Davis knew she would filibuster an omnibus abortion bill, as did her Republican colleagues in the Texas Senate. As the drama unfolded over 13 hours, protesters crowded the Senate gallery and the Capitol rotunda.

Beyond the Capitol, the Senate's proceedings drew national headlines — and more than 180,000 people tuned in to watch via livestream.

While the efforts of Davis and her fellow Democrats succeeded in defeating the legislation in that special session, another one was called that summer and a similar bill eventually passed. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the restrictions passed as part of that legislation.



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.texastribune.org/2018/06/25/wendy-davis-abortion-filibuster-five-year-anniversary/amp/

[PatSeg]

26. Oh yes, that was an inspiring moment

[littlemissmartypants]

33. During the creation of the "Motorcycle Vagina" law in North Carolina in the middle of the night.

I was up all night organizing with several feminist friends. We created the Feminist Justice League with several state affiliates virtually overnight.

The day of the vote thousands of women showed up at state legislatures. In North Carolina, Planned Parenthood lead the charge with the newly formed Feminist Justice League following their lead. We were also joined by Mom's Demand Action, Social Workers for Reproductive Justice, Whole Woman's Health, Lilith Fund, Trust Women, the National Organization for Women and countless other groups and individuals.

Overnight, literally, we were able, in North Carolina, to muster a very robust protest of thousands of women at the NC general assembly that very next day.

It changed my life forever. As a result I started a life of feminist community service, marching on Moral Mondays, attending numerous protests, being present in the chamber for votes, printing and distributing flyers and protest signs while helping to maintain the NCFJL.

Though the Feminist Justice League no longer exists, it was a catalyst for many women and supporters of the cause of reproductive justice, a fight that continues to be as urgent as it was that day.

I'm currently a member of our local women's group and we protest weekly in front of the county courthouse. My heart will forever belong to the FJL and the many women that showed up that day at the NC General Assembly to fight against the "Motorcycle Vagina" bill after being up all night organizing.

We were united in the fight for reproductive justice and still to this day, for our ultimate right as human beings and as women, to bodily autonomy.


Background and References

Independence Day Holidays
July 2013, when it all started...

A sneaky attempt to restrict abortion spawns an absurd political meme

https://mediaproxy.salon.com/width/1200/

https://www.salon.com/2013/07/11/the_only_good_thing_to_come_out_of_north_carolinas_abortion_crusade/

~~~

North Carolina Republicans sneak antiabortion provisions into motorcycle safety bill
State GOPers, without notice, tacked sweeping antiabortion provisions onto yet another unrelated bill

House Republicans -- acting without public notice -- took a bill about motorcycle safety and inserted abortion language.

The new bill -- S353 -- represents tweaks to the version that passed the Senate last week but still includes some of that version's contentious language. It calls for a physician to be present when the first drug in a chemical abortion is administered, as opposed to all drugs, as the version that passed the Senate last week would mandate.

Another major change from the Senate version: Abortion clinics would not be required to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. But the state Department of Health and Human Services would be authorized to apply those standards as it sees "applicable." The bill also includes a state study to determine what resources are necessary for the state health agency to adequately enforce the new regulations, and would pay for more inspectors.
Snip
https://www.salon.com/2013/07/10/north_carolina_republicans_sneak_antiabortion_provisions_into_motorcycle_safety_bill/

~~~

North Carolina adds sweeping antiabortion provisions to "anti-Sharia Law" bill
The antiabortion additions to the measure were announced unexpectedly during a committee meeting late Tuesday (July 3, 2013)
https://www.salon.com/2013/07/03/north_carolina_adds_sweeping_antiabortion_provisions_to_anti_sharia_law_measure/

~~~

North Carolina ‘Motorcycle’ Abortion Bill Passes House, Will Protect Women From ‘Vaginal Organisms,’ Says Supporter (Jul 12, 2013)
https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2013/07/12/north-carolina-motorcycle-abortion-bill-passes-house-will-protect-women-from-vaginal-organisms-says-supporter/
~~~
Feminist Justice League on Twitter

https://twitter.com/feministleague?s=09

Link to tweet

?s=09

Link to tweet

?s=09
~~~
Moral Monday July 22, 2013

~~~
FJLNC Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/FJLNC/photos/

###

❤ miss pants

[PatSeg]

35. I don't remember hearing about the Motorcycle Vagina Bill

So what happened to the Feminist Justice League?

[littlemissmartypants]

37. That was the point. They thought it could be introduced on the floor in the middle of the night

And no one would notice they were taking a bill about motorcycle safety and rewriting ALL the language to take away women's health care, specifically abortion rights.

Somehow, someone got wind of it and the organizing exploded. It happened first on Twitter while Wendy Davis was filibustering on the floor of the Texas Legislature, then spread through various women's groups, to Facebook and eventually to a dedicated website.

The FJL really just petered out, kind of faded away. The women in NC, including myself, joined the Moral Monday movement along with many other cohorts that rose up during that time.

Eventually, the websites and social media accounts, the newspaper we started and the calendar were just abandoned.

It was a magical time when I was full of hope and feeling powerful. Now, here we are fighting the same fight. I don't know if it will ever end. But I still hope.

❤

[PatSeg]

38. That is unbelievable

Sounds like something out of a really bad movie. Both imaginative and diabolical at the same time.

[littlemissmartypants]

40. Yes, "diabolical" explains it perfectly. nt

[FoxNewsSucks]

7. Yes,

back when I first read of it in school, I wondered what was the point. Sooner or later, the talking will stop and the vote will happen. Unless whatever is said changes someone's mind and vote, it's just a short delay.

Seems to me that when Harry Reid became majority leader, that's when it turned into "republicans say no so that's final". It pissed me off so much when republicons took the Senate back, Democrats apparently couldn't do the same.

[Beartracks]

13. Right??? This right here: "It turned into 'republicans say no so that's final'"...

... and yet "when republicons took the Senate back, Democrats apparently couldn't do the same."

I always wondered why the minority power plays only seemed to work in one direction.

===========

[FoxNewsSucks]

17. I think it's whatever the minority/majority leaders agree to.

and they also just tend to continue the rules from the last session so it never changed again until the SCOTUS nominations got them to change that part.

[KPN]

14. The original filibuster wasn't evern a frigging rule. It happened as a result of a delaying tactic

used by the minority for the first time in the 1830s to postpone a vote -- the minority had the floor and talked, and talked, and talked, and talked and .... and that act got called "filibustering". I suspect the only reason it's even a rule is because eventually the Senate created a rule that said they don't have to actually be present and talking on the floor to "filibuster" anymore, i.e., we'll take your word that you'd do it and forego the pain of having to listen interminably. The whole idea that the "founding fathers" created the filibuster because they believed the minority should always be valued and respected and therefore have some leverage as part of the greatest deliberative body in the world is poppycock.

[c-rational]

22. Thank you for this post. This should be spread far and wide.

[grantcart]

25. My understanding is slightly different

Allowing for continuous speeches was never intended to give the minority leverage in voting (parties weren't even imagined for the Senate who were expected to be outstanding Statesmen sent by state legislatures) but to ensure full debate by everyone.

The first cloture vote (as I recall) was for a Senator who gave non stop speeches to stall a vote against legislation that railroads objected too.

[Etherealoc1]

2. I don't see

the Republicans having a problem

doing what it takes to block legislation

[jaxexpat]

3. After the first 48 hours they will be a laughing stock. QOP don't like mockery.

And if their hide is thick enough to take that the first time, it's doubtful they'll run full force into it the second. Ultimately, what have progressives lost in the attempt, either way? It's always "risk looking foolish and fail or look foolish and succeed" in politics. So long as it's up front and open the truth stands a chance to prevail.

[Duppers]

8. Zactly!

And we should go for it.

[Beartracks]

15. Didn't Ted Cruz famously read "Green Eggs and Ham" once? They may not LIKE mockery...

... but it doesn't seem to prevent the worst of them from getting re-elected.

=============

[KPN]

19. Exactly. When it becomes apparent that "political stunts" are blocking policy progress that the

vast majority of the public wants to see happen, the "filibuster" will lose it's public appeal. Right now, the public doesn't actually see the "filibuster". All they see is tactical "maneuvering" ... which the media makes out to be artful on the part of the likes of Mitch McConnell. Instead of getting torched, it gets praised by the media as almost genius tactics when the simple truth is that if a minority party wants to do nothing m,ore than obstruct the other side, under present rules, there is nothing to forestall that. Meanwhile, we, the Democrats, get labelled as ineffective largely because we as a rule prefer compromise over obstruction, progress of any measure over inaction. Wed get screwed for being good people.

Time to kill the filibuster as we know it if not entirely. The Senate should also look at changing the cloture rule from requiring a super-majority rather than a simple-majority to end debate and vote. That super-majority requirement came about as a result of a "filibuster" by the way -- by the Rs no less.

[Gore1FL]

9. When opposing popular legislation, their elongated floor speeches will be full of self-harm

They'll say stupid things on video until they wear themselves out.

[Happy Hoosier]

18. Maybe, but it will be visible.

And the rules can require that the debate is germain. If they stop talking, debate ends.

Do it!!!!

[bucolic_frolic]

4. You want to block legislation? Give them a shove to the forefront and let them explain

No free rides anymore

[KPN]

21. Lol. And place a 4x8" or so on the floor immediately behind them before that shove to the forehead

for good measure.

[KPN]

10. 'We were elected to solve problems, not to apologize because [Senate Republican leader Mitch]

McConnell stopped us. That excuse will not fly, nor should it."

Thank you Senator Jeff Merkley for saying so. So happy you are my senator.

[Hotler]

11. Stop talking about it and do it.

Stop announcing our strategy. Blind side the fuckers.

[uponit7771]

12. "Blind side the fuckers." lol ... Right ?!

[FakeNoose]

20. Joe Manchin suddenly remembered he's a Dem after all

[Loki Liesmith]

24. He remembers all the time

His voting record is not bad. People here get their undies in a bunch because he says things that they don’t like because he’s from WVA

[Fla Dem]

23. Help my understanding on how a filibuster actually defeats a bill.

Filibuster definition:
A filibuster is a parliamentary procedure used in the United States Senate to prevent a measure from being brought to a vote. The most common form of filibuster occurs when one or more senators attempt to delay or block a vote on a bill by extending debate on the measure.

What was the longest filibuster in US history?
It began at 8:54 p.m. and lasted until 9:12 p.m. the following day, for a total length of 24 hours and 18 minutes. This made the filibuster the longest single-person filibuster in U.S. Senate history, a record that still stands today.

The longest filibuster lasted just over 24 hours. So just have the vote after the filibuster ends. Is there a time limit a bill must be voted on after it's introduced? Then just reintroduce it.

I know I'm being naïve, I just don't understand how a filibuster is a death sentence for a vote on a bill. I'm sure there are a number of you who are more parliamentary savvy than me (not at all) and will explain it to me.

[thesquanderer]

29. re: "So just have the vote after the filibuster ends."

Now that people don't have to actually speak for the entire length of the fillibuster, a "silent" fillibuster can last forever... or until there are 60 votes to end it ("cloture" ). So then it is the inability to get 60 votes that stops the legislation.

[KPN]

28. Some history on the filibuster for those who may be interested. Bottom line: the notion that the

"founding fathers" intended for something like the filibuster because they cherished the rights of the minority is total poppycock. They always intended majority rule -- that's what democracy is.

[link:https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/origins-of-filibuster-united-states-senate|

[link:https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/the-history-of-the-filibuster/|

[link:https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/filibusters-cloture.htm|

[liberalla]

31. Excellent! Thanks for those links!

[Celerity]

32. +1

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. The filibuster as it is now simply grants veto power to each Senator. It must change.

[littlemissmartypants]

34. Kicked and recommended. ❤ nt

[crickets]

36. K&R for the post and the discussion.

[madville]

39. Schumer and McConnell reached a power sharing agreement

I don’t see them changing any rules before 2022

[Karma13612]

41. Nah,

2022 is a lifetime from now.

This is going to happen a whole lot sooner than the midterms.

The Dems need to do this to score some wins or else forget about the Senste in 2022.