Sen. Elizabeth Warren tied the legislative filibuster to racism as Democrats continue to make a case to eliminate the procedure that stands in the way of President Biden’s legislative agenda.
“The filibuster has deep roots in racism, and it should not be permitted to serve that function or to create a veto for the minority. In a democracy, it’s majority rules,” Warren said.
Warren’s comments come as many Democrats have signaled support for eliminating the filibuster in recent weeks, especially as Biden moves from his pandemic relief package to even more controversial legislation.
“It’s important that we not continue to allow the filibuster to be a tool used to suppress the right to vote that black people have fought and died for,” Rep. Hank Johnson said of the procedure.
WITH HIS FALSE FILIBUSTER HISTORY, BIDEN IS PLAYING WITH FIRE
Johnson was referring to the Democrats’ proposed massive overhaul of the U.S. voting system, with legislation recently clearing the House that would make sweeping changes to voter registration and ID, taking much of that power away from state legislatures.
Warren argued the filibuster was not a tool that had its roots in America’s founding but instead insisted that the procedure has a racist history born out of previous southern resistance to civil rights legislation.
“When they didn’t want a simple majority, for example in an impeachment, they said so specifically,” Warren said. “The filibuster is a later creation that was designed to give the South the ability to veto any effective civil rights legislation or anti-lynching legislation.”
But the Democratic push faces two major hurdles in the form of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, two Democrats that have made their opposition to eliminating the filibuster well known in recent months.
The effort to reform the filibuster got a boost from Biden, who has mostly said he opposes eliminating the procedure.
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“I don’t think that you have to eliminate the filibuster, you have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days,” Biden said during a Wednesday interview. “You had to stand up and command the floor, you had to keep talking.”
