Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) will have served 30 years when he retires from the Senate this January, taking with him three decades of institutional knowledge and at least a little accumulated wisdom. The next generation of Senate Democrats should heed his valedictory warnings as he retires, but they probably will not, especially if the White House is in Democratic hands in 2029. If they do what they now seem hell-bent on doing, the nation will be worse off for it.

“He was warned ahead of time there would be retribution,” Durbin said of the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), who was majority leader when he decided in 2013 to end filibusters of judicial nominations. “We’re still suffering from that,” Durbin added.

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