Brookings Institute: Here's How To Reform The Filibuster, Bring Majority Rule

The Senate filibuster has prevented the passage of a myriad of policies that have majority support from Americans.

Everything from a carbon tax to gun restrictions to voting rights to expanded health care has been blocked or threatened to be blocked by the filibuster.

In other words, with the filibuster gone, large-scale policies would pass and radically change the makeup of the country. It could also alleviate partisanship fighting, since both sides would actually have an opportunity to pass large pieces of legislation, instead of remaining in gridlock. 

What Happened: Now, Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), one of two Senate Democrats who won't abolish the filibuster, says he's open to reforming the filibuster. A new report from the Brookings Institute tries to offer some ways to give Manchin enough of what he wants while also allowing big legislative packages to pass the Senate and House. 

The Recommendations: Below are several recommendations the Brookings Institute suggests, with the hope of encouraging less partisan bickering and more passing of legislation. 

• Make Senators hold the floor and speak about their reasons for filibustering a bill. Today, unlike the past, no Senator needs to actually talk about why they oppose a bill and are filibustering. Instead, they can just signal a desire for filibustering. This would make filibustering, in the words of Manchin, “a little more painful,” and thus disincentivize its frequent use. This measure would also encourage transparency around who is initiating the filibuster. 

• Ensure that 41 votes are needed to enact a filibuster, forcing a larger coalition of representatives to support the move. Instead of one lone Senator suggesting a filibuster, a coalition of representatives would have to support the measure. 

• Enable cloture — the closing of debate to call for a vote — to only be called by some threshold of majority of Senators. That is, in order to move for a vote, the majority will only be able to call it if it has a certain number of supporters. This theoretically supports the idea that the majority really knows what it wants since a coalition those representatives must all agree. 

• Lower the threshold needed for cloture (60 votes) to 55 votes. This would make it easier for legislation to be passed, though still difficult, as it would involve some of the minority. That’s because requiring 55 votes would mean a supermajority of representatives favor a particular bill. 

Photo: Harold Mendoza via Unsplash.