Sen. Johnson for the Wall Street Journal: Move to End the Filibuster Now Before Democrats Do
WASHINGTON – Today, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) calling for an end to the filibuster to restore effective lawmaking in the U.S. Senate. The senator argued that outdated Senate rules have paralyzed Congress and that eliminating the 60-vote threshold is necessary to pass meaningful legislation.
“At a minimum, if the SAVE America Act fails to pass, the Senate should vote on a rule change (requiring 67 votes) to end the filibuster. It would be interesting to see whether Democrats would vote yes when Republicans are in power. Forcing them to defend the rule now could politically shame them into preserving it later: It’s the only chance I see of dissuading them from voting yes once they regain power,” the senator wrote.
The full op-ed can be found here and excerpts are below.
“The U.S. Senate is broken. That U.S. federal government debt is approaching $39 trillion is only the most obvious evidence proving this point. Since I entered Congress in 2011, we should have passed 180 appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year they were funding. We’ve passed only six on time. That’s a 96.7% failure rate.
“Owing to that dysfunction, in the past 15 years we’ve had five shutdowns, relied on 57 continuing resolutions to fund government on an interim basis, and increased or suspended the debt ceiling a dozen times, allowing the federal government to incur an additional $24 trillion in debt. Despite this record of failure, for some inexplicable reason many of my Republican colleagues believe that maintaining the 60-vote threshold required to end a filibuster is crucial to the future of our republic.
“I’ll admit that the 60-vote cloture threshold has prevented many bad bills from becoming law, and that without it bad bills would become law more easily. But it also prevents good bills from getting passed.
…
“Lawmakers routinely use the cloture vote today to snuff out discussion and thoughtful consideration of proposed amendments to legislation being debated. The result is a charade in which both sides agree to a set number of amendments that will be voted on that are guaranteed to fail, protecting the original text of the legislation from alteration.
…
“Such are the convoluted rules of the Senate. Senators will vociferously defend them by invoking the tradition and uniqueness of the Senate. I don’t share their reverence for the institution, nor does most of the public. And it is public opinion that will eventually end the filibuster.
…
“At a minimum, if the SAVE America Act fails to pass, the Senate should immediately debate and vote on a rule change (requiring 67 votes) to end the filibuster. It would be interesting to see whether Democrats would vote yes when Republicans are in power. Forcing them to defend the rule now could politically shame them into preserving it later: It’s the only chance I see of dissuading them from voting yes once they regain power.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson
