Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell today announced his opposition to legislation that would establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
On a Fix Our Senate virtual town hall event held last night viewed by over 200K people, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joined advocates and civil rights leaders for a discussion, “Protect Our Democracy or Protect the Filibuster.”
Today, the Senate Rules Committee will hold a markup of S.1, the For the People Act. This historic legislation would protect, defend, and expand voting rights and make necessary electoral and democratic reforms across the country.
The more voters learn about the filibuster and its impact on our democracy, the more they support reform; 70% of voters want to reform or eliminate filibuster
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) wrote in an op-ed for The Hill that in order to end partisan gridlock and pass critical voting rights legislation, the Senate filibuster must be eliminated. Rep. Maloney leads the House Democrats’ campaign arm and represents a swing district.
NBC News congressional reporter Julie Tsirkin reported that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) earlier today said:"100% of my focus is on stopping this new administration... 100% of my focus is on standing up to this administration."
A poll commissioned by Fix Our Senate and conducted by Global Strategy Group found that 43% of registered voters in West Virginia see the filibuster as a way to create more gridlock.
Unless Democrats take steps to reform or eliminate the filibuster, McConnell can use this obstructionist weapon to block the For the People Act
President Biden’s legislative ambitions face a crucial test in the narrowly divided Congress this month, with key Democratic senators signaling they want to pump the brakes.
Once obscure, the Senate filibuster is coming under fresh scrutiny not only because of the enormous power it gives a single senator to halt President Joe Biden’s agenda, but as a tool historically used for racism.
Gun control groups are joining the progressive fight to end the filibuster as the Senate voting rule threatens their goal of passing comprehensive gun reform.
"Historian of the 20th century South here. I dispute Mitch's statement. The filibuster has a ton of 'racial history.'"
This brief will explore the racist history of the filibuster, how it came to be used as it is today, and outline this history specifically through the lens of gun violence prevention, cataloging legislation that has been impeded by the use of the filibuster, obstructing progress toward safer communities and fewer needless tragedies.
The filibuster is a procedural tool of the Senate that delays or prevents a piece of legislation from being brought to a vote. It is a vestige of a deal made to appeal to segregationists and has historically been used to block passage of civil rights legislation.
