Former Sen. Harry Reid says one thing is suffocating the will of the American people.
It’s not President Donald Trump. He’s not even blaming the GOP.
He has his sights on the cognressional filibuster, which he claims has turned the Senate into a “legislative graveyard.”
He wants to kill it (for the American people, he says) in 2020 — when he predicted Democrats will take back control of the government.
Reid made the comments in an op-ed for The New York Times on Monday.
“The future of our country is sacrificed at the altar of the filibuster,” Reid wrote.
“Something must change. That is why I am now calling on the Senate to abolish the filibuster in all its forms. And I am calling on candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president to do the same,” he said.
“It’s time to allow a simple majority vote instead of the 60-vote threshold now required for legislation.”
It seems Reid is expecting that the Democrats have a good chance at beating Trump in the election, and retaking a majority in the Senate.
If those two events were to happen — and the filibuster were abolished — Senate Republicans would lose an important legislation power that a party in the minority has.
The filibuster has long been a crucial tool for the minority party to check the majority party from dominating Congress unfairly. Without it, with a simple majority liberals would be able to pass their policies without compromise.
Other Democratic leaders are quietly catching on to Reid’s plan as well.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-M.A. publicly supported getting rid of the filibuster in April.
“Our first step is to get back the majority, period,” Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also said in July.
The Horn editorial team