Filibuster--Not So Threatened After All
Late this evening Paul Mirengoff wrote a post at Powerline, BIDEN’S RADICAL AGENDA LIKELY TO HIT WALL , in which he explains why the filibuster is likely to remain. The long and the short of it is simple: There are more Dem senators than just Joe Manchin who, for various reasons, are unwilling to do away with the filibuster. Read the entire post--it's worth it.
Mirengoff bases his post on an article at CNN--Democratic divisions on Biden's agenda broader than just Manchin . He quotes this key passage:
The push by liberal Democrats to enact President Joe Biden’s sweeping agenda is running into problems beyond just Sen. Joe Manchin: A handful of Democrats are not falling in line and could limit the scope of the party’s ambitions on an array of critical issues.
Some Senate Democrats like Sen. Jon Tester of Montana are not yet sold on the House-passed bills to expand background checks on gun sales. Eight Democrats are resisting calls to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
And it’s more than just Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema who are opposed to changing Senate rules so a filibuster can be defeated by 51 votes, rather than 60: The two New Hampshire Democratic senators are resisting those calls as well, in addition to several others who are not yet persuaded that such a change is necessary.
“No,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, told CNN when asked if she would support eliminating the 60-vote threshold. “I think we should look at ways to reform the filibuster, but I don’t think getting rid of it is the best approach.”
New Hampshire’s junior Democratic senator, Maggie Hassan, who faces a tough reelection bid next year, also has “concerns about eliminating the filibuster,” a spokesperson said, though backs some reforms.
Mirengoff goes on to discuss all this at greater length. I offer this simply to talk some commenters in off the ledge. :-)
I don't really mean to make light of the dire straits our republic is in. However, I do believe that the Dems are not in as much control as many fear. It's all bad enough, but it's not time to despair.