Democrats learn to love the filibuster
Senate Democrats are falling back in love with the filibuster. After eight years of complaining about obstructionism, the Senateâs new Democratic minority is embracing some of the same tools Republicans had wielded so skillfully to jam the legislative machinery. On Tuesday, Democrats used the filibuster to stop a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security â and roll back President Barack Obamaâs immigration policies â dead in its tracks. Story Continued Below Democratsâ relationship with the filibuster had been on the rocks when they ran the Senate, a time when the GOP regularly used the procedural weapon to disrupt the majorityâs agenda. Democrats responded by gutting the filibuster on nominations, making âRepublican obstructionâ a go-to explanation for the Senateâs gridlock and complaining bitterly when the GOP minority blocked debate from even opening on bills. Then came Tuesdayâs 51-48 vote blocking the DHS bill. This was the first time a Democratic minority had blocked a bill from coming to the floor for debate since Aug. 3, 2006, when Democrats stifled legislation that would have raised the minimum wage and decreased the estate tax. Casual Senate watchers could be forgiven for thinking that Democrats and Republicans had simply exchanged talking points after the 2014 election. Now in the majority, Republicans are the ones accusing the minority of keeping the Senate from getting things done. âTheyâre refusing to debate a bill theyâd like to change,â Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said of the Democrats. He added: âItâs rather an, honestly, absurd position. Iâm glad I didnât have to come out here and make that argument with you all, because I think itâs a pretty hard argument to make with a straight face.â McConnell, who had made countless procedural arguments against Democratic legislation during his stewardship of the minority, said Democrats instead should allow debate on the bill and offer amendments. More filibusters may come in a matter of days if Republicans follow through on their threats to make Democrats repeatedly reject the DHS-immigration proposal. It appears Democrats will block any attempt to bring a DHS funding bill with riders to the floor. Democrats have always supported keeping the filibuster for legislation, leaving it in place even when they gutted the 60-vote threshold on executive branch nominations in 2013. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) set out this year prepared to use the procedural tool to parry aside legislation that his caucus broadly opposed â and the DHS and its immigration policies fit the bill perfectly. âThis funding bill for Homeland Security should not be held hostage for immigration,â said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, a Democratic leader. âWeâre being straight up.â Use of the filibuster â which allows individual members to require 60 votes to begin and end debate â is something Democrats often criticized when they were in the majority just two months ago. In tandem with demanding votes on amendments, Republicans routinely used procedural tools to block legislation, elevating their use of the tactic to historic levels. âSo often in the last Congress we were accused of not being ready to end the debate,â said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). âBut we were seldom accused of not starting the debate.â In fact, the previous Congressâ Democratic Senate majority was incensed by the myriad occasions when Republicans blocked debate from starting on legislation. They were particularly offended when the GOP demanded amendments, then prevented debate from starting on the underlying bill, including with legislation on intelligence reform or pay equity. Bills canât be amended if the floor debate canât start. Even after Reid vowed to open the amendment process on the intelligence bill last December, the GOP stuffed it, prompting Reid to lash out at Republicans who âwouldnât even let the Senate debate the legislation.â In April, when a pay equity bill failed to make it to the floor, Reid said he was âat a loss as to why anyone would decline to debate such an important issue.â Of Tuesdayâs Democratic filibuster, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) fumed that âDemocrats never blush. They always do whatever is convenient at the time.â But Democrats argued that their vote Tuesday is not equivalent to Republicansâ routine practice of halting legislation and stalling nominations over the past eight years. âWeâve been crystal clear from Day One that we will fight bills we oppose,â said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Reid. âThe difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats wonât filibuster every bill regardless of the merit. Republicans wouldâve filibustered a motion to blow your nose.â Reid has called his minority âconstructiveâ after Democrats allowed speedy votes on terrorism risk insurance legislation and veteransâ suicide prevention this year, following now-retired Sen. Tom Coburnâs (R-Okla.) successful blockade against both widely supported measures last year. But Democrats also made Republicans walk through procedural hoops on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, blocking Republicans from finishing the bill last week until Democrats received more amendment votes. Democrats view the DHS bill as a must-pass funding bill thatâs combined with hard-line immigration policies. Why, they ask, would they agree to debate two issues that shouldnât be mixed together? Asked if his caucus had ever considered allowing the Senate to debate the DHS bill, Reid responded: âIf they want to debate immigration starting tomorrow, letâs do it tomorrow. But not at the express determination of the Republicans to hold hostage â¦ the Homeland Security bill.â This logic did not sink in with GOP leaders. âHow âbout that? Go figure. Itâs kind of an ironic twist of this whole thing that they wonât let us get on the bill,â said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). âI hope you guys will reprint all that stuffâ Democrats said last Congress, he added. Reid and his caucus spent several days last week debating how to handle the DHS bill. They could allow the bill to come to the floor and then demand a vote on their own, âcleanâ funding amendment with no riders. But that would have given McConnell control over the DHS bill, and Democrats do not believe he intends to allow an opportunity to strip out the immigration language. Even voting to advance the bill to the floor could give the appearance of Democratic support for the immigration riders, particularly to those unfamiliar with the Senateâs procedural jujitsu. Late last week, Democrats arrived at their unanimous decision to block the Houseâs GOP bill and instead demand a vote on their separate, clean bill, which was introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). Even the half-dozen Democrats who had publicly questioned Obamaâs actions on immigration were on board. âIâm not going to play games on DHS funding,â said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a critic of the immigration action last year. âWe just need a clean vote, straight up.â Senators and aides declined to speculate on how often Democrats are prepared to block legislation from even seeing the floor, beyond any iteration of a DHS bill with immigration riders. Legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act would probably meet the same fate, no matter how much Democrats want to debate health care. âWe donât want to have to use it,â Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said of the filibuster. Democratic leaders and rank-and-file senators roundly dismissed charges that Democrats are beginning to resemble the Republican minority they so reviled. They said their goal isnât to mess with McConnell, but they will follow through on Reidâs pledge to block âcrazy stuff.â Republicans âgot together saying: âAll things Obama weâre going to block and do all [we] can so he doesnât win.â Weâre doing nothing like that,â said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). âWe havenât had a meeting saying: âHow do we stop McConnell from getting anything done?ââ