From the bigwigs of the Biden administration to progressive protesters in the streets, Democrats have tried to finish off the filibuster since they took control of the Senate in 2021. While the vast majority of leftists demand the abolition of what they call an archaic and undemocratic rule, a select few stand at the fringe of the party, refusing to be complicit in killing the procedure. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has taken that fight to another level: Merely maintaining the status quo is no longer enough.
Sinema’s Filibuster Fight
At an event hosted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Arizona Democrat doubled down on a stance that has made her quite unpopular with the left. “I committed to the 60-vote threshold, it’s been an incredibly unpopular view. I actually think we should restore the 60 vote threshold for the areas in which it has been eliminated already,” she said during her speech on “The Future of Political Discourse and the Importance of Bipartisanship” at the University of Louisville. “It would make it harder for us to confirm judges. It would make it harder for us to confirm executive appointments in each administration. But I believe by restoring, we’d actually see more of that middle ground in all parts of our governance which is what I believe our forefathers intended.”
Ms. Sinema is no stranger to taking an unpopular stance in her party. Along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), she has stood firm against multiple attempts to change the Senate rules – and that defiance has come at a price.
After she voted not to end the filibuster, a move which would have paved the way to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act – a bill which cleared the House and died in the Senate without a single Republican vote in either chamber – a group of 70 donors threatened to cut ties with her and demanded a refund of campaign donations. Pro-abortion EMILY’s List, an organization that gave her $400,000 in 2018 according to Open Secrets, and NARAL Pro-Choice America – a group that didn’t provide funds, but did officially endorse her – disowned her, as well. Planned Parenthood – another abortion advocate – didn’t drop Sinema, but it did issue a reprimand and warning. “Any Senator who chooses to protect arcane Senate rules over the freedom to vote is betraying their constituents & harming the fight for reproductive rights. They will have to live with the political consequences,” President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson tweeted at the time.
Sinema has lived with the consequences for her refusal to toe the party line – from facing censure in 2019 for supporting Donald Trump’s appointment of Attorney General Bill Barr to losing donors over her refusal to surrender to the tyranny of the majority. Though the senator isn’t up for re-election this go around, she will be in 2024 – and a strong primary challenge relying heavily on her voting record seems all but certain.
Tit for Tat Politics
Narrative aside, however, a brief walk down memory lane reveals Sinema isn’t the fake Democrat the party faithful now make her out to be; she’s simply consistent in her beliefs. Removing the filibuster is the popular choice among leftists today, but that’s only because they hold the majority and it’s their turn to take a crack at it. The Democrats were staunch defenders when it was the only option to stop Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, from being confirmed.
Harry Reid (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
Republicans were shortsighted and on the wrong side of history, according to their esteemed colleagues across the aisle. “I know that in 20, 30, or 40 years we will sadly point to today as a turning point in the history of the Senate and the Supreme Court,” then-Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declared after Republicans changed the rules with a simple majority vote. “This is a day when we irrevocably move away from the principles our founders intended for these institutions.”
An odd stance, perhaps, for the man who has, as majority leader, tried to terminate the tradition on numerous occasions. But there’s nothing new under the sun, as the saying goes. Just as Democrats now take the Republican position on it, so too were McConnell and his colleagues following in their opponents’ footsteps. The first time the so-called nuclear option was used to remove the 60-vote requirement for anything, the man responsible was Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, who made it so that any presidential nominee except a Supreme Court justice could be confirmed by simple majority. In truth, most members of whichever party happens to be in the minority in the Senate are always big fans of the filibuster because it’s the only real power they have.
After years of tit for tat politics, Sinema’s call for a full restoration is a breath of fresh air to many. Sen. McConnell praised her at the speech even as her fellow Democrats offered only derision. But it is the Arizona senator, here, who displays both foresight and ideological consistency. As Sen. Schumer pointed out in 2017, the Founders never wanted the laws of our nation to change on the whim of a razor-thin majority. Suggesting a return to the tradition could be the first step in repairing some of that damage – but what price will Sinema’s party exact from her for taking this stand?
