Faith leaders call for elimination of Senate filibuster
A coalition of faith leaders and activists on Monday demanded the elimination of the Senate filibuster, wading into a crucial debate in Washington with a 50-50 Senate and President Joe Biden eyeing ambitious legislation on expanding voting rights, stemming gun violence and other proposals that face opposition from Republicans.
Led by prominent progressive pastor the Rev. William Barber and other ministers, the group spoke out against the arcane procedural tactic, which enables a single senator to halt action or votes. Some Senators are arguing for changing or scrapping the rule, and faith leaders lent their support both online and in person outside National City Christian Church in Washington, where they held signs and chanted: “Don’t filibuster democracy.”
“Today we come because we as clergy — pastors, imams, rabbis, people from the Hindu community and the Muslim community — are challenging the immorality of the filibuster," Barber said. "We can no longer have an impoverished democracy because a minority group of senators want to shut down open debate and shut down bringing issues to the floor, address the critical issues that face us as a people in this nation.”
The filibuster, he said, has a history of being used to block civil rights bills as well as environmental protection and labor laws.
As the U.S. and Congress have turned more partisan, the filibuster has become a key weapon in what is often described as a procedural arms race in the Senate. Year by year, more and more senators threaten to wage filibusters to block legislation. Overcoming filibusters can take days, if not weeks.
Even without a senator holding the floor, filibusters have forced senators into all-night and weekend votes to advance legislation, as happened during passage of the Affordable Care Act.
“We can’t have a small...