Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Defends the Filibuster Again As Pressure Mounts

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has surfaced as one of the only Democrat defenders of the filibuster, having to reject attempts from her own party to persuade her in eliminating the 60-vote requirement in order to advance most pieces of legislation.

Sinema joined with another Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), to block their party from eliminating the filibuster. Recently Breitbart News reported, Manchin conveyed Democrats do not have enough votes in the Senate to pass President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal due to six or seven Democrats who oppose raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent.

For this reason, pressure has started to build from their party, partly due to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wanting to ram through bills that have come from the far-left wing of their party.

The Democrats in the House moved quickly to advance controversial legislation as soon as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) regained her speakership after the 2018 midterms.

Democrats have already passed bills on voting rights, immigration, and gun control during the current House session. The bills have started to line up on Schumer’s desk, but he is waiting to make sure there are enough votes — or, if not, attempt to change the Senate rules — in order for him to be able to advance legislation with as little consensus as possible using a vice presidential tie breaker.

Sinema told the Wall Street Journal, “the problem is senators’ behavior, not the chamber’s rules.”

“When you have a place that’s broken and not working, and many would say that’s the Senate today, I don’t think the solution is to erode the rules,” Sinema said in an interview in Phoenix after having two events with constituents. “I think the solution is for senators to change their behavior and begin to work together, which is what the country wants us to do.”

As was recently reported, the Senate parliamentarian authorized Schumer to once again use reconciliation — a procedure that allows the Senate to bypass the 60-vote threshold in favor of a bare majority to pass bills — in order to ram through far-left legislation and give Democrats and President Joe Biden an agenda win.

“The Parliamentarian has advised that a revised budget resolution may contain budget reconciliation instructions,” Schumer’s office said Monday. “This confirms the Leader’s interpretation of the Budget Act and allows Democrats additional tools to improve the lives of Americans if Republican obstruction continues.”