Obstruction for me, but not for you.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), an outspoken critic of the Senate filibuster, indicated Monday that she would not support removing the procedural hurdle as long as Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress.
“Do I advocate eliminating the filibuster now, when the Senate has the winning trio? No,” the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
“But if we had the trifecta, I would have been, because we have to show that the government can keep its promises,” Jayapal added.
The Senate’s filibuster rule, which requires a 60-vote threshold to end debate and pass most types of legislation in the upper chamber, is seen as the best chance Democrats have to block passage of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda – with Republicans making a decision. He has a 53-47 seat advantage in the Senate and is expected to maintain a slim majority in the House.
Jayapal, as recently as September, was pushing to “abolish” what she called “the Jim Crow filibuster.”
“The filibuster was created *by mistake* in 1806,” she wrote on X. “Every day we don’t abolish it is just as bad a mistake.”
The Washington Democrat doesn’t like that the procedural tool makes it difficult for progressives to get their program adopted in Congress.
“It’s filibuster OR an assault weapons ban. This is the systematic obstruction OR codified access to abortion. It’s filibuster OR raising the minimum wage. It’s the filibuster OR the protection of voting rights. The choice is clear. Abolish the Jim Crow filibuster,” Jayapal tweeted.
The progressive representative argued Monday that adopting a liberal agenda would have “established some trust with the American people.”
“If we had mastered the trifecta and gotten rid of the filibuster to pass the minimum wage, to pass paid sick leave, to pass many of these things that are fleeting – access to “abortion — who pass ballot measures that are so popular… then I think we would have established some trust with the American people,” Jayapal argued.
“Republicans, don’t forget, have already gotten rid of the filibuster, on taxes,” she added.
“And so I think I don’t think he’s in opposition at all,” Jayapal said, when asked how she would respond to his previous demands to end the filibuster if she had found new support for it.
Senators John Thune (R-SD), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) – considered the leading candidates for Senate Majority Leader next year – have all recently expressed their opposition to the end of the mandate. obstruction.
