Ideally, the 60-vote filibuster protects a strong minority from being oppressed by a slim majority. But Republicans have blatantly abused this tradition and this rule for years now allowing a much smaller minority to thwart the will of much larger majorities. Because of the Senate’s innate bias towards far less-populated, far more rural, far whiter state populations, the Republican senators blocking progress in the country in recent years have represented roughly 39 million to, most recently, 54 million fewer Americans in recent years than Senate Democrats. This is clearly a tyranny of a minority.
At the same time, a narrow factional majority should not be able to impose its will on the nation by just one vote, and the Senate’s tradition of forcing some consensus should not be abandoned: sweeping legislation should be able to be passed with more than just a narrow tiny majority, ideally bipartisan. The filibuster in concept will also protect us as Democrats, protect others not aligned with Republicans when electoral fortunes shift. And it also in concept means less back and forth with the country seeing legislation undone and redone with just a one-vote majority or a tie with a vice presidential vote in the Senate, too.
Therefore, instead of needing 60 votes and having a 20-vote majority required on non-budget reconciliation measures in the Senate, I propose to reduce the filibuster to 55 votes, reducing a 20-vote margin to a 10-vote margin for these changes. This will dramatically reduce the abuse, increase the chances for bipartisanship, and allow America to move forward more often while still doing so with some care and respect for the minority. Democrats can change the rule now and I would be a strong vote and advocate for this change once I would be a member of the Senate.
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