Frum rebuts GOP claims: “In the real world, the filibuster is a generator of instability and unpredictability”
FLASHBACK: David Brooks in January: “If this doesn’t work and Republicans go into full obstruction mode, Democrats should absolutely kill the filibuster.”
Washington, DC —In case you missed it, David Frum, a conservative commentator and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, joined a growing number of moderates and conservatives in his call for the elimination of the filibuster in an Atlantic piece this morning. This follows a recent column from David Brooks calling for the filibuster to be eliminated if Republicans block President Biden’s agenda as well as a recent comment from Max Boot supporting “killing” the filibuster, among others.
Eli Zupnick, a spokesman for Fix Our Senate, commented: “A growing number of moderates and conservatives are joining progressives and good government advocates in the understanding that the partisan filibuster simply doesn’t work in today’s Senate. Whatever one thought about the filibuster before, it’s clear that it is now a tool of partisanship and gridlock that allows a minority of senators to obstruct critically-needed reforms supported by the vast majority of voters across the country. When circumstances change, smart columnists – and smart politicians – adjust their positions accordingly.”
From David Frum’s piece today:
“In the real world, the filibuster is a generator of instability and unpredictability”
“The filibuster stops popular laws from being enacted. Presidents instead issue rules by executive order, looking to public opinion to back them against Congress. But executive orders command less deference from the courts, and so invite the even more anti-majoritarian judiciary to assert itself. The result all around is legal uncertainty.”
“The Senate filibuster, as it has evolved over time, leads to wilder gyrations of public policy than would Senate majority rule.”
“Congress would legislate more effectively—and better protect its prerogatives against the executive branch—if the filibuster were abolished.”
Last month, conservative columnist David Brooks wrote:
“If this doesn’t work and Republicans go into full obstruction mode, Democrats should absolutely kill the filibuster.”
And he was joined by conservative columnist Max Boot, who tweeted after reading Adam Jentleson’s book:
“I’ve been ambivalent about the filibuster but this makes a very strong and persuasive case for killing it.”