Senators discuss nuking filibuster to fund DHS, pass voter ID bill
Senate Republicans appear to be warming to an extreme measure to overcome Democrat obstruction—the “nuclear option” of overriding the 60-vote threshold required to bring a bill to a final vote.
“My fellow conservatives and I have proudly used the 60-vote threshold to protect the country from all sorts of bad ideas and dangerous policies,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, wrote in an opinion article for The New York Post published Wednesday.
“But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.”
In the article, Cornyn, citing “moderate Democrats [going] extinct,” expressed support for “whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary” to fund the Department of Homeland Security and pass the SAVE America Act. The act would require photo identification and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has pledged to put the SAVE America Act on the floor. Absent an attempt to override the 60-vote filibuster rule, however, the bill is likely to be blocked by Democrats.
Thune has forged his leadership identity around maintaining the Senate’s traditions, pledging to protect the filibuster from his very first floor speech as leader.
“I respectfully urge the remaining handful of my Republican colleagues still holding on to the old position that I used to share to reassess the new reality and update their thinking,” wrote Cornyn, who has served in the Senate since 2002 and is seeking a fifth term.
Cornyn is facing off against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Lonestar State’s Republican Senate primary.
His article was published after Paxton repeatedly accused him of “REFUSING to abolish” the filibuster.
Cornyn’s new stance puts him in a camp similar to that of Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who told reporters at a Conservative Partnership Institute press event on Tuesday that passing the SAVE America Act would probably involve the nuclear option.
“If you have a goal of actually passing it, that probably requires eliminating the filibuster, which I reluctantly support, because Democrats will do it when they’re not in power,” Johnson said.
Johnson proposed a vote to put Democrats on the record on the question of eliminating the filibuster.
“Let’s get them on the record. First vote up: let’s end the filibuster,” said Johnson. “And just see what they do. If they go down and vote no, it’s probably the only thing that would restrain them from not ending the filibuster next time they’ve got power, because they’re on the record.”
Under President Joe Biden, Democrats attempted to exempt the John Lewis Voting Rights Act from the 60-vote cloture requirement but failed when Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona opposed the change.
Johnson called the idea of Republicans nuking the filibuster a “very long shot.” Still, he said Democrats’ refusal to back bills funding the Department of Homeland Security could pressure Republicans to lower the 60-vote threshold to end debate and hold a vote, just as they previously did for Supreme Court nominees.
“Nuking” or “ending” the filibuster is distinct from calls by figures such as Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for a “talking filibuster,” which would involve attempting to enforce a two-speech limit on Democrat senators seeking to block the SAVE America Act.
Proponents of the talking filibuster argue that Republicans can enforce the Senate’s rules in such a way that Democrats would have to speak continuously to block bills, as opposed to simply denying their votes for cloture.
This, in theory, would allow Republicans to overcome the typical 60-vote threshold required to end debate on a bill.
Cornyn also expressed openness to this approach in his New York Post op-ed.
Johnson told The Daily Signal he believes the coalition of Republican senators seeking to override the 60-vote threshold is “growing.”
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]