The argument seems to pop up every few years, whenever one of our political parties controls the House, the Senate, and the presidency: Should they end the 60-vote threshold in the Senate known as the filibuster to advance their agenda?
It is not without reason that this is called the nuclear option. It would blow up the current system, allowing a single party with a simple majority to essentially approve anything it wanted without opposition. But as we enter the second month of the government shutdown, President Donald Trump is right to put this atomic idea on the table.
Let’s start with the real cons, because I can already see moderates from both parties pulling their hair as they read this.
Senate Republicans aren’t ready to go “nuclear” on the filibuster as the government shutdown continues, despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pushing earlier this year to change the rules for nominees. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
If Republicans pull the trigger on the filibuster, the next time Democrats, who are now socialists in all but name, take power — and they eventually will — a progressive parade of terrible things seems all but certain.
TRUMP URGES GOP TO ‘END THE SHUTDOWN’ BY GOING NUCLEAR ON SENATE FILIBUSTER
Would the Democratic Socialists pack the Supreme Court? Yes. Make Washington, DC and Puerto Rico states? Almost certainly. Offer free abortion for up to nine months, along with gender transitions? With cheerfulness.
But what if Democrats are likely to blow up the filibuster at their next chance, even if the Republican Party refuses to do so?
The last time this issue came up, during the Biden administration, there were only two Democratic senators opposed to the idea, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, neither of whom have a letter after their names anymore.
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER INDICATES THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SUPPORT TO ELIMINATE FILIBUSTER DESPITE TRUMP’S PUSH
Today, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is the only Democrat in the House who even resembles them in their willingness to obstruct the party, but he has already said he supports ending the filibuster to resolve the current shutdown.
There’s plenty of reason to think Democrats will eventually blow up the filibuster regardless of what the Republican Party does, and as in chess, going first here could be a big advantage.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., criticized fellow Democratic lawmakers for failing to get their “s— together” and vote to reopen the federal government. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty)
Playing the white pieces means that your opponent’s priority should be to neutralize what you have done, not to further his own attack. Only the very best players can do both.
SENATE GOP OPPOSES ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ AS DEM SHUTDOWN STANDOFF DEEPENS
Overturning the filibuster would give Trump and Republicans at least a year to pass anything they want, and three years if they hold Congress in the midterms next year. On issues such as tax breaks, codifying the safe border and boosting energy production, they could be very popular.
If Democrats were to return to power at that time, they would first have to try to unwind Republican legislation, which many people would like, before embarking on their own efforts to transform the country.
Note that even when they had the votes, Republicans never succeeded in overturning Obamacare. Once people get used to something, it often sticks.
TRUMP’S ‘NUCLEAR’ DEMAND FAILS FOR SENATE REPUBLICANS AGAINST SHUTDOWN
The fact is that the 60-vote threshold used to be much more achievable because the Senate had cross-party factions, blue dog Democrats and pro-choice Republicans. But today, with the parties in a lockdown, a compromise appears impossible.
It’s a difficult balance between the filibuster that stifles the Senate’s ability to pass anything, and the potentially dangerous, breakneck changes that eliminating it would bring.
There are people, both left and right, who essentially argue that gridlock is a good thing. The argument is not without some merit. Many of the federal laws Congress has passed do more harm than good, and smoothing out the system would only create more of it.
JOHNSON WARNS AGAINST TRUMP’S DEMAND THAT SENATE GO ‘NUCLEAR’ TO END SHUTDOWN
But with the government shut down and no end in sight, Americans must wonder whether this artificially constructed barrier to doing the nation’s work has become unworkable, like a broken parking garage fence through which nothing can get through.
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Donald Trump is president of the United States for the second time, largely because he promised to smash things and break the deep state’s hegemonic control over the government. And make no mistake: when Congress refuses to act, it is the bureaucracy that really holds the power.
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There’s an episode of “The Simpsons” where a Bond villain threatens to launch a bomb, and a member of the United Nations wants to admit, saying, “We can’t afford to take that risk,” to which another replies, “You always say that.” I want to take a chance.’
That may be where Americans find themselves with our unpopular, dysfunctional, and filibuster-blocked federal legislature. They may be willing to take this opportunity, even if it is a nuclear opportunity.
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