The old black and white filibuster - she ain't what she used to be.
It's certainly not how it's portrayed by Jimmy Stewart in the great 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Nobody stands in the well of the Senate and talks without interruption for hours until finally...
...an avalanche of telegrams floods the chamber, finally convincing fellow Senators to do the right thing, finally bend to the will of the people, and of course, the people always want something that grows democracy, increases equality, and brings social justice.
Well, not much of that is true. I don't know if it ever was.
People have the idea that how the Senate manages itself is constitutionally set.
Not really. The rules of governing itself, how it passes legislation, and what hoops it has to go through are constantly changing.
There was a time when dramatically holding the floor was necessary. However, some of the more dramatic filibusters of a Mr. Smith nature were not to extend social justice but to deny it, as in defense of segregation.
Over time, holding the floor was dropped in favor of allowing a cloture vote (to end debate) that required 60% support. And it wasn't so much that debate continued - most often, the other side would say, "Well, hell. We ain't got 60 votes to close this thing, so I guess we'll just give up."
At first, few votes were "filibustered" in this manner. But with the advent of the Obama Presidency, Republicans, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell, filibustered virtually EVERY SINGLE BILL facilitating the blocking of anything Obama wanted. Even things the Republicans previously supported, they would block because they didn't want to give Obama a win. McConnell's self-declared major goal was not to help the American people but to make sure that Obama was a one-tern President.
Traditionally, only a handful of judicial nominations were blocked. That changed with McConnell. Chortling all the way, McConnell blocked dozens and dozens of nominations, leaving tons of vacancies.
Eventually, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had had enough and removed the filibuster for judicial appointments, except for the Supreme Court.
The filibuster for the Supreme Court was eliminated once Mitch McConnell had a Republican President (really an authoritarian fascist, but that's a story for another post) and a Republican Senate.
The point is, this is just a Senate rule of procedure. It's not Holy Writ.
There was a time where such creatures existed as Liberal Republicans and Conservative Democrats. Those days are gone, for the most part. Most Senates will be split no more than about 54-46, maximum. Senators who switch sides will be few and far between (I'm looking at you, Joe Manchin).
So, if the Senate filibuster rules stay the same, nothing will ever get done, including in moments of crisis.
Yes, it's true that once a year, they can use the budget reconciliation process to pass certain qualified legislation without a filibuster, but that legislation passes before the eye of a Senate parliamentarian, who gives ADVICE as to what may or may not be included. I'll repeat that. It's ADVICE that can be overruled by, in our case now, by the Senate head, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Even if COVID relief passes, that still leaves out in the cold immigration reform, climate legislation, an infrastructure bill, and voting reform, And if the Senate Parliamentarian is to be believed, any change in the minimum wage.
Something's gotta give. It's not a matter of preserving the Senate as a deliberative body. It's a matter of having a functional government.
Don't worry about preserving minority party power. Many of the Congressional districts are gerrymandered to favor Republicans, as are most state legislatures. Minority power is preserved in the Senate by such weirdness as Wyoming having the same number of Senators as California, And don't get me started on the Electoral College.
It's just a Senate procedural rule. It can be changed.
Maybe we just need to go back to the mythological time of Mr. Smith. If you want to stop legislation, HODOR (hold the door/floor)!
Democrats want to govern. Republicans want to pass tax cuts to their buddies through budget reconciliation*, pass judicial nominees without a filibuster, get the executive to strip regulations that help protect people, and pontificate endlessly about culture war issues. More often than not, passing legislation is not high on their priority list.
But the first time they're back in power, and they really, really want something? Do you thank they're going to hesitate? Hell, no.
Something's gotta give.
*in 2001, when the Senate Parliamentarian ruled some parts of their tax bill ineligible for budget reconciliation, they did the most Republican thing - they fired the Parliamentarian.
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