In 2017, the idea of preserving the legislative filibuster was a bipartisan one. A coalition of Senators led by Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Chris Coons wrote a letter to Senate leadership to leave the filibuster in place.
The letter, signed by 31 Democrats, read:
We are writing to urge you to support our efforts to preserve existing rules, practices, and traditions as they pertain to the right of Members to engage in extended debate on legislation before the United States Senate. Senators have expressed a variety of opinions about the appropriateness of limiting debate when we are considering judicial and executive branch nominations. Regardless of our past disagreements on that issue, we are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor.
We are mindful of the unique role the Senate plays in the legislative process, and we are steadfastly committed to ensuring that this great American institution continues to serve as the world’s greatest deliberative body. Therefore, we are asking you to join us in opposing any effort to curtail the existing rights and prerogatives of Senators to engage in full, robust, and extended debate as we consider legislation before this body in the future.
Current Democrat Senators who signed the letter include:
- Joe Manchin
- Patrick Leahy
- Mark Warner
- Michael Bennet
- Amy Klobuchar
- Bob Casey
- Martin Heinrich
- Jeanne Shaheen
- Sherrod Brown
- Dianne Feinstein
- Kirsten Gillibrand
- Brian Schatz
- Cory Booker
- Maria Cantwell
- Mazie Hirono
- Jon Tester
- Thomas Carper
- Maggie Hassan
- Tammy Duckworth
- Tim Kaine
- Jack Reed
- Ed Markey
- Debbie Stabenow
- Sheldon Whitehouse
- Bob Menendez
Vice President Kamala Harris also signed the letter.
Out of that list, Senators Brown, Casey, Duckworth, Gillibrand, Heinrich, Hirono, Klobuchar, Markey, and Schatz are now in favor of abolishing the filibuster. Senators Booker, Cantwell, Hassan, Kaine, Menendez, Shaheen, and Stabenow "have called for changing the filibuster." Senators Bennett, Carper, Coons, Feinstein, Leahy, Reed, Tester, Warner, Whitehouse, and even Senator Manchin are "open" to changing the rule.
Vice President Harris has expressed that she would "get rid" of the filibuster if it was what it took to push through radical agenda items like the Green New Deal.
That's right, there's not a single Democrat who signed the 2017 letter who hasn't flip-flopped on the filibuster to some extent.
Democrats only care about the rights of the minority party when they are not in power. It will be interesting to see if they maintain their current position the next time Republicans have the majority.