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Related: About this forumThe filibuster isn't just absent from the Constitution--it's blatantly unconstitutional. Here's why:
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Last edited Fri Oct 8, 2021, 02:25 AM - Edit history (1)
50 votes to end the filibuster.
I could see the argument before the court...
"Justices, the senate filibuster is unconstitutional because it prevents a simple majority from passing legislation".
Q - "Doesn't the constitution provide that the senate shall make its own rules?"
"Yes, but..."
Q - "And can't the filibuster rule be changed at any time by a simple majority in the senate?"
"Yes, but..."
Q - "And hasn't that happened several times in recent history?"
"Yes, but..."
Q - "In fact aren't 2 of the justices here on the bench as a result of changing the filibuster rule so a simple majority vote is all that is necessary?"
"Yes, but..."
Q - So if 51 senators want to pass a certain piece of legislation they can simply change the filibuster rule to end debate and force a vote?"
"Yes."
unblock
(52,164 posts)but i'm not impressed with his constitutional analysis.
the constitution gives the senate the power to create its own rules, and the supreme court has been very loathe to step into the inner workings of the houses of congress. and if any supreme court might ever strike down the filibuster as unconstitutional, *this* court is certainly not the one that will do it.
beyond that, a filibuster is not just one specific rule. yes, we've all been focusing on the one specific 60 vote cloture rule when we talk about "the" filibuster, but a filibuster is a more general concept of any delaying or obstructing tactic, and such things have been around for centuries. millennia, in fact. it's almost impossible to create reasonable rules for a legislative body without creating some mechanism that a minority group could use as a filibuster, and any filibuster essentially gives power to a minority group to block, or at least delay, majority rule.
so yeah. the filibuster sucks, republicans have abused it relentlessly, and democrats should kill it altogether, but we lack the ability to do that because of a few holdouts.
The filibuster is anti-democratic and really bad public policy. However, it is not unconstitutional.
markpkessinger
(8,392 posts). . . Because the Constitution leaves it to each of the House and Senate to set their own rules. The Courts would likely see invalidating the filibuster as a violation of the separation of powers.