Stand Up for Filibuster

By SAM URETSKY

“I stand with Wendy”! June 25, 2013, Wendy Davis, then a little-known Texas state senator, began a passionate speech against a bill that would severely restrict access to abortions.

Sen. Davis’ plan was to speak for 13 hours, long enough to prevent a vote on the bill – although she was silenced at 10 hours and 45 minutes when Republicans accused her of going off topic. Texas rules on filibusters are extremely rigid: no digressions, no food or water, no leaning on a desk, no bathroom breaks, and no sitting. The Legislative Reference Library of Texas notes the following rules of the Senate:

Rule 3.02 prohibits eating or drinking in the Senate chamber.

Rule 4.01 requires a member of the Senate to stand at his or her desk to address the Senate. The member speaking may not sit, lean, or use a desk or chair in any way. Bathroom breaks are not allowed.

Rule 4.03, which governs the interruption of a member who is speaking, allows other senators to raise objections if a speaker does not confine his or her remarks to the issue under consideration, or if his or her voice is inaudible.

If a point of order is raised that the senator speaking has violated the rules for decorum or debate, the presiding officer will warn the senator twice; after a third violation, the Senate may vote on the point of order. If it is sustained, the senator speaking must yield the floor.

It’s not clear what the rules are or have been at any specific time, since the Reference Library credits Bill Meier with a 43 hour filibuster in 1977, beating the record of 42 hours and 33 minutes set by Mike McKool in 1972. In any event, Sen. Davis became a national celebrity, eclipsed only by her red and green sneakers, Mizuno ™ brand, probably a model called “The Wave Rider,” $160 current price.

The United States Senate seems to change the rules on filibusters as often as the members change their shoes. Forget “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” the 1937 version where James Stewart speaks for 23 hours and 16 minutes before collapsing. Today’s Senate has made the filibuster too easy. As per Gail Collins of the New York Times: “… somebody ... waits to be recognized, says ‘pretend I’m talking,’ and closes down the process for everybody else.” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) has suggested that the rules be changed so that anybody who wants to filibuster actually has to say something.

While President Biden was successful in getting his COVID-19 bill passed, he is likely to encounter problems getting the rest of his legislative agenda through the Senate, no matter how popular the bills are with the general public. An infrastructure bill might have a chance, as long as the money is being passed around in a politically expedient manner and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg can keep up his round of late night television shows – but bills to reform voting and gerrymandering, the $15 minimum wage, bills to reform the election system, limit discrimination against Americans on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and change policing practices seem unlikely to pass the Senate. Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are the most vocal Democrats opposed to getting rid of the filibuster, and why not? With a 50:50 Senate, any Democratic senator is in the catbird seat. Sen Manchin got the cutoff on the COVID-19 relief bill lowered from $200K to $150K for married couples, lowered unemployment benefit from $400 to $300, and killed the nomination of Neera Tanden to run the Office of Management and Budget. Also, today’s divided electorate means that more people vote along party lines, no matter how their representatives vote. Too many voters have opinions on what bills they like, but don’t know, or seem to care, how their representative voted.

For just a while, it seemed as if Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) realized that his support for Donald J. Trump had left the nation in such bad shape that the Republicans might be willing to work with President Biden to fix the mess. Instead, it seems as if the master obstructionist is prepared to take the credit if things improve, and blame the administration if his blocking tactics keep popular programs for passing. It worked with Obama, why not try it again?

Sam Uretsky is a writer and pharmacist living in Louisville, Ky. Email sdu01@outlook.com.

From The Progressive Populist, April 15, 2021

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