Hollis Lewis: “We know what needs to get done, but the filibuster stands in the way.”
WEST VIRGINIA — Last Friday, August 27, West Virginia Democratic Party Black Caucus Co-Chair Hollis Lewis wrote an op-ed published in the West Virginia Gazette-Mail calling for filibuster reform in order to defend our nation’s democracy. Lewis, a Charleston resident, is a legal professional and adjunct criminal justice professor at West Virginia State University.
Notably, the reforms Lewis is calling for are very much in line with how Sen. Manchin has talked about the filibuster publicly and behind closed doors: as a tool that is being abused, should be made more “painful,” and that was never intended to be used as a weapon of pure partisan obstruction.
Read the op-ed here.
Key excerpts from the op-ed:
- We know what needs to get done, but the filibuster stands in the way. In June and August, despite the majority of senators voting in favor, Republicans blocked the U.S. Senate from even debating the collection of reforms in the For the People Act. More recently, the U.S. House passed the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Still, its prospects are bleak in the Senate with the filibuster intact, and Republicans’ near-unanimous pledged opposition.
- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has outlined a compromise voting rights proposal that, in less partisan times, would be the basis for a bipartisan agreement to secure voting rights protections. Yet Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has already come out in opposition, and it’s hard to think of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., or 10 other Republicans willing to break ranks with McConnell. It is a reminder that Manchin’s vision of a Senate that values bipartisanship is near impossible with McConnell and a weaponized filibuster.
- From its origins and as it currently exists, the filibuster is problematic and doesn’t encourage bipartisanship nor compromise. Instead, it ensures partisanship and gridlock and blocks bills from even getting debated. The Senate rules are so convoluted, and the modern filibuster is so easy, that senators can stop a bill just by sending a few emails.
- Manchin has made clear that he doesn’t want to eliminate the filibuster entirely, but he is open to reforms that would strengthen the overall health of the Senate and weaken easy partisan obstruction. From the “talking filibuster” to flipping the burden of “keeping the floor” on the 41 senators looking to block legislation, several reforms are on the table that would make those looking to block progress have to work for it. The real test of any Senate change will be whether there can eventually be a majority vote on the underlying legislation and, most importantly, if the significant issues we need to make progress on can finally get passed.
- We don’t have time to waste. Now is the time to deliver, as time is running out to enact strong federal voting laws and protect against partisan gerrymanders before it’s too late for the country’s upcoming midterms and redistricting process.
- As our former Governor and Secretary of State in charge of elections in West Virginia, Manchin understands what’s at stake at this moment: nothing less than free and fair elections across the country.
