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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNuking The Filibuster May Hurt Republicans In The Long Run
The Supreme Court filibuster just died. Having failed to break a Democratic filibuster on the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Republicans voted 52-48 to invoke the so-called nuclear option, allowing debate on Gorsuch and future Supreme Court justices to be ended by the Senate on a simple majority vote.
Unless theres an intense public outcry and there was barely a peep when Democrats invoked the nuclear option for other nominations four years ago the legislative filibuster might be next on the chopping block. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said hell keep the legislative filibuster for the current Congress. But with the intense partisanship that typifies Congress these days, the reverence for Senate traditions such as the filibuster isnt likely to hold much longer.
In the short run, this will give Republicans and their narrow majority in the Senate more power. Gorsuch is expected to be confirmed on a mostly1 party-line vote on Friday. President Trump may get the chance to nominate additional Supreme Court justices later in his term. And if Republicans decide to eliminate the legislative filibuster somewhere down the line, theyll have more flexibility on repealing and replacing Obamacare,2 tax reform and other policies.
But in the long run, its not at all clear that eroding the filibuster will be in the GOPs best interest. In the recent past, theyve made more effective and more frequent use of it than Democrats ever did. Consider some of the additional legislation that might have passed had the filibuster not been in place during President Barack Obamas time in office. The list includes the DREAM Act, a cap-and-trade system to regulate carbon emissions, a gun-control compromise bill and a public option as part of Obamacare. Democrats would probably also have been able to pass an even more aggressive stimulus package if not for the de facto 60-vote requirement.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nuking-the-filibuster-may-hurt-republicans-in-the-long-run/