The American people deserve to know what’s at stake at the ballot box in November, and it’s time for Senate Democrats to come clean about their plan to fundamentally transform America through one simple procedural vote.
Democrats are embracing the elimination of the legislative filibuster, a longstanding rule that requires 60 votes to end debate and advance legislation.
The filibuster has served as a safeguard of our Republic by preventing one party from consolidating too much power and ramming through a radical ideological agenda. Instead, the filibuster forces the party in power to seek consensus and bipartisan compromise to turn legislation into law, something that we need more of, and not less, in Washington.
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Consider that shortly following the swearing-in of President Trump in 2017, some Republicans were demanding the elimination of the filibuster to make it easier to pass the president’s policy priorities. Doing so would have been politically convenient in the short-term but disastrous in the long-term, which is why I joined my colleagues in shutting the door on those demands.
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Now, however, Democrats set on gaining control of the White House and Senate are actively pursuing a short-term Faustian bargain to eliminate the filibuster in order to have a clear path to passing the far left's radical socialist agenda.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said “nothing’s off the table” when it comes to eliminating the filibuster. Vice presidential hopefuls Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., have also supported the idea of eliminating the filibuster. Other Democratic senators who were once staunchly opposed are now warming up to the idea.
We don’t need to wonder what kind of extremist, far-left agenda Senate Democrats will immediately pursue because they’ve already telegraphed what they’d push into law if they had uninhibited political power.
If Chuck Schumer becomes the majority leader, he could call a vote to eliminate the legislative filibuster on day one.
If Schumer becomes the majority leader, he could call a vote to eliminate the legislative filibuster on day one. This would only require a simple majority of 51 votes. With that one vote, Democrats would effectively silence the minority and remove the need for any bipartisanship in the foreseeable future. The Democrats could pass any piece of legislation they deem fit without a single vote from the other side, and it would be nearly guaranteed to become law if Joe Biden were resident and Nancy Pelosi remains speaker.
Since Democrats have consistently pointed to climate change as the most pressing threat facing the nation, the Senate could quickly take up the “Green New Deal.” Without the filibuster, a Democratic majority would ram through this socialist wish list without any debate, giving the federal government more control over the American people. It would dictate the kind of house you live in, the kind of car you drive, the type of job you have, and the way you live your life.
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From there, Senate Democrats could pass their government-run health care legislation, which would come at a significant cost for the American people. With the government in control, if you like your current health insurance, you won’t be able to keep it. With a simple partisan majority, the employer-sponsored plans that more than 180 million Americans rely on would become illegal.
Senate Democrats could also pander to their fringe base by effectively defunding the police. With a simple majority, Democrats could divert money away from police departments across the country. They could change the law to make it easy for smarmy trial lawyers to sue law enforcement officers left and right, which would make it impossible for the brave men and women in blue to do their job of keeping us all safe.
These are the kinds of dramatic, transformational policies that Democrats could enact without a single Republican vote if they gain control of the Senate and do away with the legislative filibuster.
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Democrats aren’t being upfront with the American people about what they plan to do if they gain power. But we know what would happen. Bipartisanship would end. Compromise would end. And the days of passing legislation within the boundaries of the mainstream would end.
A Senate without the legislative filibuster would move both parties to the ideological poles, destabilize our Republic and move us closer to socialism. It’s up to reasonable leaders in both parties to stand up to this dangerous effort to eliminate bipartisanship and unleash extremism.
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