Democrat Senate hopefuls are embracing the far-left stance of nuking the filibuster.
Eliminating the filibuster, once a fringe stance of political outsiders on the left, has become a mainstream position for Democrats in office or those seeking it.
Ending the filibuster would allow the Democrats to pass more of their agenda, ultimately sidelining the minority party since legislation would pass by a slim majority rather than 60 votes to clear the upper chamber of Congress. The Senate is currently split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.
Last month, Rep. Val Deming (D-FL) launched her campaign hoping to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). She published an op-ed in USA Today, titled, “Voters didn’t elect us to do nothing and blame the Senate filibuster. Get rid of it.” She also wrote, “The filibuster threatens the freedoms of every American, no matter the color of your skin, your gender, ZIP code, political party, or how much money you have (or don’t have) in the bank.”
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), a former 2020 presidential hopeful who is now running for Senate to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), said on MSNBC that the Senate is “broken.” He went on to say, “I’m sorry it has come to this point, but we don’t have an honest broker on the other side, and America can’t wait any longer.”
Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA), who hasn’t fully committed to running for Senate but is expected to do so, tweeted last month that he believes the “the filibuster has to go.” In a series of tweets, he explained his reasoning.
Lamb’s remarks followed Senate Republicans killing legislation to create a partisan committee to allow the Democrats to “study” what happened on January 6. He said Republicans voted to block the bill, which “made [the Democrats] choose between protecting our Capitol & our democracy, or a procedural tool that isn’t in the Constitution.”
The Hill also pointed out that Democrat hopefuls in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin have embraced either “reforming” or the “ending” of the filibuster.