Sen. Bennet: Democrats Must Reconstruct Senate Rules After McConnell’s ‘Bastardization of the Filibuster’

Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) Friday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” said Democrats must reconstruct the Senate rules after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) “bastardization of the filibuster.”

Mitchell said, “Where are you on the filibuster at this point?”

Bennet said, “I think we make a mistake when we confuse Mitch McConnell’s abuse or bastardization of the filibuster with the proper procedure of the Senate. It has nothing to do with the Senate. We can reconstruct the rules and create an opportunity for the Senate to have a very extensive debate and offer amendments and try to change legislation, agency the Senate is meant to do. Then at the end of the day, 51 senators have to be able to make a decision. That is the way the Founders designed the Senate. It’s not the way the Senate works today. It’s no longer the world’s most deliberative body. Instead of defending something which is pure wreckage which is what we have today, we ought to be figuring out how to change the rules to make it work again.

He continued, “The rise of totalitarianism states around the world, who now believe democracy won’t work in the 21st century, makes the question of what we do with the Senate rules even more urgent than ever before.”

Bennet added, “Right now, the problem with the Senate is nothing gets done, and then the American people can’t hold anybody accountable for the fact that nothing has gotten done because the rules are so convoluted. That works very well for Mitch McConnell, who really isn’t trying to accomplish much except put right-wing judges on the courts and cut the taxes for the wealthiest people every now and then.”

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