Democrats Split Over the Filibuster Once More: "The filibuster once tore Democrats apart. They're doing it all over again."
The filibuster is once again creating a divide among Democrats.
TroibNews 
Democrats’ conflict over government funding is not only escalating a debate about the party’s future but also reviving old divisions they thought had been resolved.
In the wake of a failed attempt to abolish the filibuster during former President Joe Biden’s administration, the party is once again examining this Senate procedural tactic.
Criticism of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision on Friday to break a filibuster and move forward with the Republican-supported stopgap funding bill has come from Democrats across the ideological spectrum, highlighting a growing rift within both congressional chambers and among different generations.
“The same Dems who argue to keep the filibuster ‘for when we need it’ do not, in fact, use it when we need it,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted to X on Saturday.
Her comments were in response to former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who faced significant backlash from many in the Democratic base, partly due to her resistance to abolishing the filibuster. On Saturday, Sinema called out Democrats for their previous critiques of her online.
“Change of heart on the filibuster, I see!” Sinema wrote on X, sharing an article where Ocasio-Cortez expressed her “deep sense of outrage and betrayal” towards Schumer. She also included an earlier post where Ocasio-Cortez criticized her support for the filibuster and called for Sinema to be primaried.
Sinema left the Democratic Party at the close of 2022, largely due to significant disagreements concerning the filibuster and tax policies. She contemplated an independent bid for 2024 before ultimately deciding to retire.
Additionally, she shared a list of Democrats who have campaigned for or voted to eliminate the filibuster but who, in effect, supported it during the attempt to block the GOP-led government funding bill on Friday.
President Donald Trump signed the temporary funding measure into law on Saturday.
The rules of the Senate typically require the backing of 60 senators for legislation to pass, and while the filibuster was once an uncommon tactic, it has evolved into a key strategy for the minority party in recent years.
During his tenure as majority leader, Harry Reid made a significant change to the filibuster in 2013 with the “nuclear option,” which abolished it for almost all presidential nominations. Republicans countered in 2017 by eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court justices.
While the Biden administration has pushed for the filibuster’s elimination to facilitate legislation on voting and reproductive rights, both Sinema and former Sen. Joe Manchin have defended the practice, thereby ensuring its continuation.
Currently, many Democrats are voicing dissatisfaction with Senate Democratic leadership's refusal to use the filibuster against funding measures they oppose. They are also engaging in online exchanges with Sinema about the issue.
Ocasio-Cortez contended in response to Sinema that the filibuster has mainly been utilized against Democratic legislation, while it has been ineffective against Republican initiatives.
“Could have proved us wrong,” she wrote on X. “Instead they proved the point.”
Minutes later, Sinema countered that “zero Senate Democrats” support the filibuster, even as 38 voted to utilize it on Friday.
She also highlighted the positions of House Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal.
In an earlier post, Jayapal discussed legislation that would struggle to pass with the filibuster in place, advocating for the abolition of the “Jim Crow filibuster,” which historically hindered civil rights legislation.
“Just surprised to see support for the ‘Jim Crow filibuster’ here,” Sinema remarked on X.
Khanna responded to Sinema, asserting that the filibuster has obstructed attempts to increase the federal minimum wage and has negatively impacted Democrats in the upcoming 2024 elections.
“Had we raised the wage & delivered childcare we could have had President Harris,” Khanna wrote on X.
Sinema referred to Khanna’s comment as “a breathtakingly undemocratic take,” arguing that abolishing the filibuster to stifle Republican debate and advance Democrat-led initiatives would not guarantee electoral success for Democrats.
In response to the 38 Democrats who voted to employ the filibuster against the funding bill, Sinema tweeted, “Yes dear the hypocrisy is the point.”
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
In the wake of a failed attempt to abolish the filibuster during former President Joe Biden’s administration, the party is once again examining this Senate procedural tactic.
Criticism of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision on Friday to break a filibuster and move forward with the Republican-supported stopgap funding bill has come from Democrats across the ideological spectrum, highlighting a growing rift within both congressional chambers and among different generations.
“The same Dems who argue to keep the filibuster ‘for when we need it’ do not, in fact, use it when we need it,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted to X on Saturday.
Her comments were in response to former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who faced significant backlash from many in the Democratic base, partly due to her resistance to abolishing the filibuster. On Saturday, Sinema called out Democrats for their previous critiques of her online.
“Change of heart on the filibuster, I see!” Sinema wrote on X, sharing an article where Ocasio-Cortez expressed her “deep sense of outrage and betrayal” towards Schumer. She also included an earlier post where Ocasio-Cortez criticized her support for the filibuster and called for Sinema to be primaried.
Sinema left the Democratic Party at the close of 2022, largely due to significant disagreements concerning the filibuster and tax policies. She contemplated an independent bid for 2024 before ultimately deciding to retire.
Additionally, she shared a list of Democrats who have campaigned for or voted to eliminate the filibuster but who, in effect, supported it during the attempt to block the GOP-led government funding bill on Friday.
President Donald Trump signed the temporary funding measure into law on Saturday.
The rules of the Senate typically require the backing of 60 senators for legislation to pass, and while the filibuster was once an uncommon tactic, it has evolved into a key strategy for the minority party in recent years.
During his tenure as majority leader, Harry Reid made a significant change to the filibuster in 2013 with the “nuclear option,” which abolished it for almost all presidential nominations. Republicans countered in 2017 by eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court justices.
While the Biden administration has pushed for the filibuster’s elimination to facilitate legislation on voting and reproductive rights, both Sinema and former Sen. Joe Manchin have defended the practice, thereby ensuring its continuation.
Currently, many Democrats are voicing dissatisfaction with Senate Democratic leadership's refusal to use the filibuster against funding measures they oppose. They are also engaging in online exchanges with Sinema about the issue.
Ocasio-Cortez contended in response to Sinema that the filibuster has mainly been utilized against Democratic legislation, while it has been ineffective against Republican initiatives.
“Could have proved us wrong,” she wrote on X. “Instead they proved the point.”
Minutes later, Sinema countered that “zero Senate Democrats” support the filibuster, even as 38 voted to utilize it on Friday.
She also highlighted the positions of House Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal.
In an earlier post, Jayapal discussed legislation that would struggle to pass with the filibuster in place, advocating for the abolition of the “Jim Crow filibuster,” which historically hindered civil rights legislation.
“Just surprised to see support for the ‘Jim Crow filibuster’ here,” Sinema remarked on X.
Khanna responded to Sinema, asserting that the filibuster has obstructed attempts to increase the federal minimum wage and has negatively impacted Democrats in the upcoming 2024 elections.
“Had we raised the wage & delivered childcare we could have had President Harris,” Khanna wrote on X.
Sinema referred to Khanna’s comment as “a breathtakingly undemocratic take,” arguing that abolishing the filibuster to stifle Republican debate and advance Democrat-led initiatives would not guarantee electoral success for Democrats.
In response to the 38 Democrats who voted to employ the filibuster against the funding bill, Sinema tweeted, “Yes dear the hypocrisy is the point.”
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
