Republicans, don't kill the filibuster – even to pass SAVE Act |
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are under increasing pressure from President Donald Trump to pass the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) America Act, and while the legislation to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections is important – and wildly popular – any effort to do away with the filibuster should be a nonstarter.
The longstanding Senate rules that require a 60-vote threshold to move forward on most legislation are there for a reason. They force the chamber to debate and compromise – and they purposefully make it harder to get a bill over the finish line.
Yet, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, has acknowledged, he’s got a math problem. With a 53-member majority, he simply doesn’t have the number of senators to reach the magic 60 number. A handful of Democrats would need to get on board.
For now, Thune’s plan is to have a robust debate on the bill and then bring it to a vote – even though it’s almost certain to fail.
“I can guarantee the debate,” Thune said recently. “I can guarantee a vote. I just can’t guarantee an outcome.”
The Senate Republican leader is getting pressure from some within his party, including Utah Sen. Mike Lee, to look at more extreme options, including the archaic “talking filibuster” – or even worse – doing away with the legislative filibuster altogether.
GOP shouldn't backtrack on filibuster support now
Republicans have stood for protecting the filibuster in recent years, when Democrats came close to “nuking” it in 2022, so they could pass voting legislation of their own (albeit with very different priorities).
Thankfully, two principled Democrats – former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (now both independents) – voted with Republicans to safeguard the longstanding rules.
Senate Republicans, now in a similar position to Democrats in 2022, shouldn’t cave. While it may give them a short-term win, they’d be responsible for letting Senate Democrats railroad through their extreme agenda next time they are in power.
As Thune said in a speech on the Senate floor in 2021, “No matter how appealing it might be in the moment, destroying this long-standing protection for minority rights would be a grave error that both parties would live to regret.”
That’s just as true today.
Cornyn is acting like a hypocrite for political reasons
Unfortunately, some GOP senators are backtracking on their former support for the filibuster.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, for instance, was once a steadfast supporter of protecting Senate rules. In 2022, when Democrats sought to blow up the filibuster, Cornyn said this: “Power is fleeting, and at some point the shoe will always be on the other foot. ... Liberal activists may like the idea of nuking the filibuster today, but they'll soon find themselves ruing the day their party broke the Senate.”
His position now that Republicans are in a similar position? Very different. He even wrote a recent opinion piece in the New York Post titled, “Why the SAVE Act matters more than the filibuster.”
That’s really disappointing, especially because it appears his change of heart has to do with trying to save his Senate seat. Cornyn is locked in a tough Republican primary battle with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and both are vying for Trump’s coveted endorsement. Cornyn seems to be saying what he thinks is necessary to earn the president’s approval.
Manchin, who stood up to his fellow Democrats, recently called out Cornyn on X for his hypocrisy, saying: “The filibuster – the soul of the Senate – has preserved the Senate’s role for nearly 250 years as the institution that cools passions, protects minority voices, and demands consensus. America was built on institutions designed to resist political convenience, not surrender to it.”
Thankfully, most Republicans in the Senate remain committed to keeping this safeguard in place.
Those who want to nuke it? They should think carefully about whether mimicking shortsighted Democrats is what they want to do.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques