Filibuster Archives - The Michigan Star

Manchin, Sinema Defy Biden on Removing Filibuster for Abortion Law as Republicans Rally Opposition

July 2, 2022July 1, 2022 The Center Square

U.S. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., both told news outlets Thursday they would not go along with President Joe Biden’s request that Congress remove the Senate filibuster to “codify Roe v. Wade.”

At a news conference in Spain Thursday during Biden’s last day of an overseas trip, Biden called on Congress to codify abortion protections in response to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, but before his plane landed in the U.S. later that day, the two Democratic senators had already stopped his plan dead in its tracks.

Biden: Axe Filibuster for Pro-Abortion Legislation

July 1, 2022June 30, 2022 The Center Square

President Joe Biden called on Congress Thursday to remove the filibuster and pass a federal law to “codify Roe v. Wade “after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there was no Constitutional right to an abortion last week.

Biden previously called for a similar removal of the filibuster to push through voting rights legislation, but Congress did not follow suit.

Senate Caps History-Making Day by Rejecting Filibuster Change

January 21, 2022January 20, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

The Senate late Thursday rejected a Democratic effort to alter the filibuster in order to pass their long-sought voting bills over unanimous Republican opposition, capping one of the most consequential days in the history of the chamber.

The vote failed 48-52 after Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema voted as they said they would for months, joining a unanimous Republican caucus in opposition and denying their party the necessary support for the change to take effect. The change, had it been adopted, would have established a “talking filibuster” pertaining to the voting bills only, allowing any senator to speak for or against them for as long as they wanted but lowering the 60-vote threshold for passage to a simple majority.

Senate Democrats Fail to Change Filibuster, Handing Biden Stinging Defeat on Voting Legislation

January 19, 2022January 19, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Senate Republicans blocked the voting rights legislation, likely triggering Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to move forward with changing Senate filibuster rules.

The motion to move forward with ending debate and taking a vote on the bill, Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, failed in the Senate by 51-49. Sen. Schumer joined Republicans “in order to enter a motion to reconsider the vote,” according to the Senate Press Gallery.

Commentary: The Democrats Embrace Voter Intimidation

January 19, 2022January 18, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Joe Biden has claimed “democracy is under attack” and that to save “democracy” we must annihilate Senate norms such as the legislative filibuster. If you don’t believe that this crisis exists and act immediately, his argument goes, the sun won’t rise ever again; the oceans will dry up, and you’re an evil racist like Jefferson Davis, Bull Connor, and George Wallace (Democrats every last one—and Biden actually sought Wallace’s support back when Biden wanted to be liked by the Wallaces and Byrds of the Democratic Party.) But why let facts get in the way of a good Grandpa Dementia bedtime story?

Of course the real reason for the shrieking hysteria from Biden and the Left is that they’re confronting what is likely to be an electoral tsunami in the fall. Most Americans with half a brain have realized after a year under the Biden presidency that the Left’s policies and politicians are absolute failures. That’s why Biden has a 33 percent approval rating. And it’s why moderate Democrats like Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) want nothing to do with Biden, his policies, or his efforts at rewriting Senate rules.

Progressives of course had a premonition that their policies would wreak havoc upon the American people. To protect themselves from electoral accountability they immediately introduced a bill to federalize election law for the Left’s partisan advantage. This comes as no surprise from the Democratic Party of Tammany Hall, which has a long, sordid history of rigging election laws to hang onto power through the intimidation of voters.

Liberals Push for Court-Packing After SCOTUS Blocks Biden’s Vaccine Mandate

January 16, 2022 Admin

Liberal commentators took to social media to express their disappointment following the Supreme Court’s decision to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday that Biden’s mandate, passed through the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), was unconstitutional, invoking the “major questions” doctrine and ruling that Congress did not grant OSHA the authority to issue the mandate.

Biden’s Rough Week: Supreme Court Loss, Economic Woes, Pushback from Democrats

January 16, 2022 The Center Square

President Joe Biden saw a flurry of setbacks on a range of key issues this week, making it one of his toughest since taking office.

Biden addressed those difficulties in a speech Friday after losses in Congress, the Supreme Court, the court of public opinion and with the economy.

Democrats Threaten Ousting Filibuster, but Moderates Hold the Line

January 7, 2022January 6, 2022 The Center Square

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., is once again right in the middle of a heated Congressional debate as Democratic leadership threatens to overthrow the long-established filibuster rule to push through voting legislation that would give the federal government broad powers over state elections.

“If Republicans continue to block our efforts, the Senate will debate and consider changes to Senate rules on or before January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to protect the foundation of our democracy: Free and fair elections,” Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said.

Commentary: Democrats Gin Up January 6 Hysteria to Pass Election Rigging Bill

January 6, 2022 Admin

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, Democrat leaders in Congress are ginning up hysteria in order to pass a bill that would transform our elections and give Democrats permanent majorities in all three branches of government. In addition, Democrats’ faux outrage deflects from the root causes of the breach which include four years of multiple attempts by Democrats to overturn the 2016 election results, loose election laws, and lax Capitol security.

But to pass their election rigging bill, Democrats first need to eliminate the Senate filibuster. That would allow them to pass the bill with only a simple majority of votes and not the 60 votes needed to overcome a presumed Republican filibuster.

Senate Republicans Filibuster Government Funding Bill Over Debt Ceiling Provision With Three Days Until Shutdown

September 28, 2021September 27, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Senate Republicans Monday filibustered Democrats’ bill to fund the government and suspend the debt ceiling, days before a potential federal shutdown and possible debt default.

Republicans vowed for weeks to oppose a debt ceiling increase and urged Democrats to put the provision in their filibuster-proof $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. But Democrats have thus far refused to do so, and with their bill’s failure Monday, Congress now has just three days to pass a new funding bill to avoid a government shutdown set to begin Friday at midnight.

Progressives Renew Calls to Abolish Filibuster, Pack Supreme Court After Texas Abortion Decision

September 5, 2021September 4, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Progressives renewed their calls to abolish the Senate filibuster and expand the Supreme Court after it did not block a Texas law restricting abortion access from going into effect.

“Republicans promised to overturn Roe v Wade, and they have,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote just after midnight Thursday, invoking the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case. “Democrats can either abolish the filibuster and expand the court, or do nothing as millions of peoples’ bodies, rights, and lives are sacrificed for far-right minority rule.”

Following 15-Hour Filibuster Texas Senate Passes Elections Legislation

August 13, 2021August 12, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

The Texas Senate on Thursday morning passed the elections bill that state Democrats have attempted several times to prevent from becoming law.

Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Carol Alvarado filibustered the bill for 15-hours in the latest long shot attempt to prevent its passage, but the chamber endured and passed the legislation by a vote of 18-11 this morning. Filibuster rules required Alvarado to remain standing, addressing the chamber on exclusively the subject of the bill, without bathroom breaks or food.

The attempt came one day after Dade Phelan, the Republican Speaker of the Texas House authorized arrest warrants for the 52 Democrats who have failed to show up for the second special session this summer of the Texas legislature, thereby denying the chamber a quorum.

Senate Democrats Publicly Release $3.5 Trillion Filibuster-Proof Budget Reconciliation Resolution

August 10, 2021August 9, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Senate Democrats have publicly released their $3.5 trillion, filibuster-proof budget reconciliation resolution.

The draft of the legislation released on Monday includes new spending programs that the White House has labeled “human infrastructure,” such as universal pre-K, childcare support and tuition free community college.

The spending total is estimated over a 10-year period. Using budget reconciliation allows the Democrats to pass the measure without votes from Republicans in the 50-50 Senate. Democrats used the same process in March to pass President Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus package called the American Rescue Plan Act.

Conor Lamb the Latest to Jump into Critical Pennsylvania Senate Race

August 9, 2021August 8, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb launched a long-expected Senate bid in his state Friday morning, becoming the latest to join a crowded primary field in one of the country’s most competitive races.

Lamb, a 37-year-old Marine, first won a special election in a Pittsburgh-area swing district in 2018, months before Democrats took control of the House. He is vying to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in a state that President Joe Biden narrowly won, as Democrats look to expand their slim 50-50 majority.

Kyrsten Sinema Reaffirms That She Will Not Support Abolishing the Filibuster

June 23, 2021June 22, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reaffirmed her opposition to abolishing the 60-vote Senate filibuster, rebuffing progressives who have decried the legislative rule and called for its removal.

Sinema argued that scrapping the Senate rule would erode “democracy’s guardrails,” writing in The Washington Post that doing so would lead the nation to “lose much more than we gain.”

“It’s no secret that I oppose eliminating the Senate’s 60-vote threshold,” Sinema wrote. “I held the same view during three terms in the U.S. House, and said the same after I was elected to the Senate in 2018.”

Commentary: Manchin Saves the Filibuster for Now, so House Democrats Call Supreme Court Packing ‘Infrastructure’

April 21, 2021April 20, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

On April 7, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) penned an oped for the Washington Post entitled, “I will not vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” appearing to foreclose any possibility of President Joe Biden ramming through major changes to law on a slim partisan basis expanding the Supreme Court, nationalizing election law, expanding statehood to D.C. or Puerto Rico, and so forth.

“The filibuster is a critical tool to protecting that input and our democratic form of government. That is why I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” Manchin wrote, appearing to salvage the nation’s two-party system — for now.

But not so fast, say House Democrats, who last week unveiled a plan to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, the Judiciary Act of 2021.

In 2020, Democrats Used Filibuster 327 Times; Republican Used it Only Once

March 31, 2021March 30, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

As the debate regarding the future of the Senate filibuster heats up, a recent report has confirmed that the Democrats, who are now advocating for its abolition, utilized the procedural stalling tactic exponentially more times than the Republicans did over the course of 2020, as reported by Breitbart.

With the Senate evenly-divided at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, most legislation will not be able to pass without at least 60 votes in favor due to the filibuster. As such, Democrats – who technically maintain control with Vice President Kamala Harris able to serve as the tie-breaking vote – have begun advocating for eliminating the filibuster in order to rush through some of the most radical items on their agenda without any Republican support.

Elizabeth Warren Calls Filibuster Racist Months After Filibustering Tim Scott Police Reform Bill

March 23, 2021March 22, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the filibuster racist Thursday, months after she filibustered Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s police reform legislation.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said the filibuster is both racist and shouldn’t be permitted in the Senate since it gives the minority veto power, according to Axios. The legislative filibuster, which dates back to the 1800s, is a rule that requires 60 votes for most legislation to pass in the Senate.

“The filibuster has deep roots in racism, and it should not be permitted to serve that function, or to create a veto for the minority,” Warren told Axios on Thursday. “In a democracy, it’s majority rules.”

Commentary: H.R. 1 and Immigration Reform Will Virtually Guarantee One-Party Rule in the U.S.

March 21, 2021March 20, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

On March 16, President Joe Biden opened the door to changing Senate rules requiring 60 votes in order to advance legislation, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos “democracy is having a hard time functioning.”

When asked if he had to choose between “preserving the filibuster, and advancing your agenda,” Biden’s answer was “Yes.”

Biden continued, “But here’s the choice: I don’t think that you have to eliminate the filibuster, you have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days…You had to stand up and command the floor, you had to keep talking.”

Commentary: There’s No Mandate for Democrats to Nuke the Filibuster

March 17, 2021March 16, 2021 RealClearWire

Democrats by no measure have a clear mandate in Washington. But they sure do act like it.

Senate Democrats know that they don’t have support for many items on their radical agenda, more of which Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to force votes on in the coming weeks. That’s why talks are recirculating in the Senate to end the filibuster once and for all.

Commentary: Will Senate Democrats Eliminate the Filibuster Just to Nationalize Election Laws Under H.R. 1?

February 18, 2021February 17, 2021 Michigan Star Staff

After sweeping the trifecta of the House, Senate and White House in 2020 with the slimmest of majorities, Democrats have a diminishing window of opportunity to enact their agenda and keep their political base happy.

After all, majorities do not last forever, and in midterm elections from 1906 to 2018, the party that occupies the White House usually loses on average 31 seats in the House, and about three seats in the Senate. And with just a 10-seat majority in the House and a zero-seat majority in the Senate with it all tied, 50-50, the odds Democrats lose at least one legislative chamber in 2022 is exceptionally high.

U.S. Senate Escapes Gridlock After Two Democrats Promise to Protect Filibuster

January 28, 2021January 27, 2021 The Center Square

After receiving commitments from two Democratic colleagues that they wouldn’t abolish the filibuster, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll hand over the chamber’s legislative gavels to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The U.S. Senate is actually split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, but Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie-breaking vote.

Bernie Sanders to Filibuster Defense Bill Override Unless Senate Votes on $2,000 Checks

December 30, 2020December 29, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said that he will filibuster a Senate override of President Donald Trump’s military bill veto unless the chamber votes on legislation providing $2,000 checks to Americans.

“McConnell and the Senate want to expedite the override vote and I understand that,” Sanders told reporters Monday evening. “But I’m not going to allow that to happen unless there is a vote, no matter how long that takes, on the $2,000 direct payment.”