My new column at RealClearPolitics shows why the Senate filibuster up-ends the Constitutional norms established the nation’s Founders.
By FRANK MIELE
The best argument against eliminating the filibuster is also proof positive that the filibuster is an extra-constitutional invention that weakens the experiment in self-government that our nation’s Founders intended.
I’ll admit I was pushed off-kilter for a minute when one reader warned about D.C. statehood and the prospect of “two Marxist senators” as a counter to my last column on ending the filibuster.
Sure enough, the admission of new states by a simple majority in Congress could result in a partisan advantage for Democrats should they opt to offer statehood to the District of Columbia, but there are three things to remember:
1) That’s the system the Constitution deliberately established, and for more than two centuries it has not destroyed the republic.
2) The Constitution already requires bicameral approval and presidential assent. That is a substantial political hurdle in its own right.
3) And if Democrats truly viewed D.C. statehood as existential, they could eliminate the filibuster for that purpose with a simple majority – exactly as both parties have already done for judges and reconciliation.
The real danger to the republic is not that one party might temporarily overreach. It is that neither party can meaningfully govern. A system in which voters cannot reward or punish governing majorities is not stable – it is stagnant.
The Constitution does not require supermajorities for ordinary legislation. In fact, it specifies them only in narrow, explicit cases – treaties, impeachment convictions, constitutional amendments. The framers knew how to require heightened consensus when they wanted it. They did not do so for routine lawmaking.
Maybe they knew what they were doing. Consider the SAVE America Act, which I wrote about last time. It would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, eliminate mail-only registrations, and require photo ID nationwide. Is there anything more routine – or obvious – than protecting election integrity?
Yet Senate Majority Leader John Thune was more interested in protecting his institutional power than in taking the steps necessary to bring this essential plank of the Republican platform to the Senate floor for a vote. His putative allies even offered to restore the traditional “talking filibuster” as a compromise, but Thune was having none of it. He stood stubbornly in the way, protecting Senate procedure instead of the people’s vote.
It is worth remembering that the modern filibuster bears little resemblance to the Senate tradition people claim to be defending. For most of the nation’s history, senators who wished to block a bill actually had to hold the floor and talk – sometimes for hours or even days. The silent filibuster that now requires 60 votes for nearly every bill is a relatively recent invention, one that allows senators to veto legislation without debate, stamina, or public accountability. In other words, the rule that supposedly protects Senate tradition has itself become a modern distortion of it.
Finally, let’s be clear about the long-term effects of a do-nothing Senate stymied by institutional paralysis. When Congress cannot legislate, power does not disappear. It shifts. Presidents use executive orders. Agencies reinterpret statutes without guidance. Courts become policy arbiters. Voters lose clarity about responsibility.
If one party wins, it should govern – not hide behind a few decades of tradition. Whether it’s the SAVE America Act or statehood for the District of Columbia, let legislators legislate. If their policies fail, voters can remove them every two or six years. If they succeed, voters can reward them. That is the accountability loop that makes a republic function.
The Founders did not design a system to prevent change. They designed one to channel it. The filibuster, in its modern silent form, does not channel debate – it freezes it. And a frozen legislature is not a check on power. It is an invitation for power to move elsewhere.
About Heartland Diary USA
Heartland Diary is solely operated by Frank Miele, the retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana. If you enjoy reading these daily essays, I hope you will SUBSCRIBE to www.HeartlandDiaryUSA.com by leaving your email address on the home page. Also please consider purchasing one of my books. They are available through the following Amazon links. My new book is “What Matters Most: God, Country, Family and Friends” and is a collection of personal essays that transcend politics. My earlier books include “How We Got Here: The Left’s Assault on the Constitution,” “The Media Matrix: What if everything you know is fake?” and the “Why We Needed Trump” trilogy. Part 1 is subtitled “Bush’s Global Failure: Half Right.” Part 2 is “Obama’s Fundamental Transformation: Far Left.” Part 3 is “Trump’s American Vision: Just Right.” As an Amazon Associate, I may earn referral fees for qualifying purchases through links on my website.
Good article, Frank.