On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said there should be “an exemption, whatever you want to call it” to the filibuster, “for the sake of saving our fundamental democracy.” And praised the Texas legislators who have fled the state to prevent voting legislation from passing as “heroes” whose presence in D.C. makes a difference.
Padilla said, “So, yes, put me down in the column of abolishing the filibuster, or at least a carveout, an exemption, whatever you want to call it, for the sake of saving our fundamental democracy. I really do commend the Texas legislators that are here making the case in the nation’s capital, not just through the press, but for policymakers. The last time they were here, it made a difference. Prior to their first visit, we didn’t even have Joe Manchin supporting the vote to debate the For the People Act on the floor of the Senate. Their presence here absolutely made an impact. We got to a 50-50 vote, still ten shy of the 60-vote threshold required by the filibuster, but maybe their presence here and the examples that they’re bringing of these voter suppression laws in Texas can continue to move, not just the hearts and minds of the general public, but members of Congress as well.”
He added that “the presence of these heroes from Texas, it is making a difference.”
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