Jamelle Bouie: Let the Filibuster Burn!

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/04/let_the_filibuster_burn_in_truth_democrats_are_better_off_without_it.html

Let the Filibuster Burn!

Dry your tears, Democrats. In fact, cross your fingers that the Senate nukes the legislative filibuster, too.
By Jamelle Bouie


Well before Mitch McConnell deployed the nuclear option to stop a Democratic filibuster of Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, the judicial filibuster was dead. It was dead the moment Gorsuch was nominated, with Republicans eager to put him on the bench. The chance to confirm Gorsuch—or someone like him—was the reason Republicans launched their unprecedented blockade of Merrick Garland, the reason they backed Donald Trump after he captured the GOP presidential nomination, the reason they’ve looked the other way as Trump uses his newfound influence to enrich himself and his family. With Gorsuch and a Supreme Court majority on the line, there was no question that Republicans would do whatever it took to win confirmation. And if Republicans were ready to use the nuclear option in response to any Democratic filibuster of any high court nominee, no matter how justified, then in practical terms, the filibuster didn't actually exist.

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The ugly truth of the legislative filibuster is that, far more than being a tool for deliberation, its obstructive power has been put to the service of injustice. Segregationist senators, in particular, used the filibuster to kill civil rights and anti-lynching legislation, using the rule to protect and entrench regimes of terror and exploitation in the former Confederacy. In the present day, the filibuster does little more than prevent majorities from passing promised legislation and delivering outcomes to their voters. Which, perhaps, is the reason why it may well survive.

Ending the legislative filibuster, thus strengthening the majoritarian character of the Senate, clarifies lines of responsibility. Interested voters can see, more clearly, how and why legislation fails, a marked contrast to the status quo, where those lines are opaque. But greater transparency means greater accountability. Without the certainty of obstruction to fall on, parties may have to deliver on their promises, or at least modulate them, lest they make claims they can’t actually act on. It’s not hard to imagine why some senators, then, would prefer a world where the filibuster precludes serious action.


Liberal Democrats, at least, should want McConnell to nuke the filibuster, full stop. Absent a Republican filibuster—which gave huge leverage to the most conservative members of the Democratic caucus—the Senate might have passed a more progressive Affordable Care Act, climate change legislation, immigration reform, and even additional stimulus once it was clear the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was insufficient. What they lose in the short term is more than compensated by greater freedom of action if and when they hold the majority. As it stands, the filibuster serves the “party of no” quite well. For those who have an agenda beyond tax cuts—for those who want the government to do something, and do it well—the filibuster is an almost crippling obstacle.

For that reason, it’s hard to believe McConnell would take the step of ending all filibusters. The ability to block large majorities is valuable for a party fighting to prevent any expansion of the welfare state. And even if McConnell wanted to take that step, it’s not clear his caucus would fall behind him. Ending all filibusters would change the Senate, forcing a generation of career politicians to adjust to a new reality. But while we’re thinking about the Senate and its rules, it’s worth remembering (and emphasizing) that taken as a whole, the filibuster is bad for governance. For all the challenges of a post-filibuster world, our democracy would work better if we confined it to the ash heap of history.