Her. Tina Smith
Tina Flint Smith Senator Notes Shoes Mismatch During Trial: “I Had a Lot on My Mind” Overnight Energy: Biden Administration Delays Trump Roll Back Protection Against Migratory Birds | Democrats try to block further pool drilling | Democratic Senator Pushes For Clean Electricity Standard Democratic Senator Pushes For Clean Electricity Standard MORE (Minn.) Became the last Democratic senator on Friday to call for the elimination of the Senate filibuster.
“I’ve made a decision. We need to move this country forward, so I’ve decided to speak out for eliminating the filibuster,” Smith said on Twitter.
I’ve made up my mind.
We need to move this country forward, which is why I have decided to come out in support of eliminating the filibuster.
– Senator Tina Smith (@SenTinaSmith) March 5, 2021
Smith in a Facebook post said Thursday that she initially supported the filibuster’s retention, but found it to be an “enemy of progress”.
“Without it, I reasoned, what would prevent a Conservative president and Congress from doing terrible damage to women’s health care, suffrage and civil rights,” Smith wrote of her initial position.
“But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the filibuster has long been the enemy of progress. In fact, it has been a very effective tool to thwart the will of the people, ”she wrote.
Smith also criticized the argument that the filibuster protects the rights of the minority party from the majority.
“What the filibuster does is a minority of senators just say no to any idea they don’t like,” she wrote. “They don’t have to negotiate because they can stop anything. [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] is the master of obstruction, but the big problem is that it is fundamentally undemocratic. “
Progressive Democrats have urged Senate Democrats to abolish the filibuster by using Senate rules. The Senate has previously eliminated filibuster for nominations and for Supreme Court nominations in this way.
But some Senate Democrats are against eliminating the filibuster, so the 50 votes to complete it aren’t there yet.
Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) Manchin Overnight: Capitol Police May Ask National Guard to Stay | Biden’s Pentagon Policy Nominee Faces Criticism | Naval Academy Midshipmen Moved to Hotels Progressives Won’t Oppose Bill On Limits On Incentive Controls Senate Votes To Take Over COVID-19 Relief Bill MORE (DW.Va.) and Kyrsts Sinema (D-Ariz.) Made it clear that they would not support filibuster ending.
Her. Amy Klobuchar
Amy KlobucharHillicon Valley: YouTube to Recover Trump’s Account | House-passed election bill targets foreign interference | Senators Enact Legislation to Establish International Technical Partnerships House-passed Election Bill Targets Foreign Interference Klobuchar, Murkowski Urging FTC to Protect Data of Domestic Violence Victims MORE (D-Minn.) said Mother Jones in an interview that she would support the ending of the filibuster to pass the right to vote and electoral reform law HR 1, which Parliament passed on Wednesday.
“I’d get rid of the filibuster,” Klobuchar said to Mother Jones. “I have been in favor of filibuster reform for a long time, and now mainly because of this critical election law.”