Sanders on the Filibuster: We Can’t Have GOP ‘Obstructing What the American People Want’

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Friday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that Senate Democrats should end the filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to end debate and pass bills.

Mitchell said, “Senator, we’ve been talk here today about issues like climate change, like immigration reform, like the George Floyd bill. All of these pieces of legislation that are going to get through the House, not that comfortably given the margins, but get through the House and die in the Senate unless something is done because no matter how popular they are. That’s what’s so striking about this. And if you’re facing that kind of a roadblock, is it time to rethink the filibuster?”

Sanders said, “If we cannot get Republican support in one way or another, we’ve got to go forward. Now, you asked me about the filibuster. It is my position absolutely that democracy has got to prevail in the United States Senate. We cannot have — continue to have minority who are obstructing what the American people want. So count me in as somebody who believes the majority should rule in the Senate so that we can begin doing the business of the American people.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN