As President Donald Trump strengthens efforts to abolish the Senate filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, lawmakers confront old disagreements about when the 60-vote rule should apply.
Democratic senators avoided fully endorsing the filibuster’s removal. Some defended specific exceptions, arguing the rule should remain as Republicans aim to push the SAVE Act through the Senate.
‘I would want to know what specific measure it covered,’ Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., stated. ‘I’m in favor of eliminating the filibuster for specific measures, not across the board.’
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., expressed a similar stance. ‘When we wanted the Voting Rights Act passed, I was willing to do it,’ she said. ‘It depends on constitutional issues.’
In President Joe Biden’s administration, Democrats attempted to make filibuster exceptions for voting rights bills that Republicans blocked.
Trump repeatedly urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Republicans to abolish the filibuster to pass the election integrity bill.
‘I think we have to be really careful,’ Sen. Angela Alsobrooks commented. ‘The filibuster is what’s preventing President Trump from his SAVE Act.’
Trump insisted Senate Democrats would remove the filibuster to advance their agenda if they regained majority control.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., agreed, saying, ‘I think that the Democrats would absolutely eliminate the filibuster.’ He noted a change in his stance, now supporting the elimination due to a perceived lack of cooperation from Democrats.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pointed out that Trump is aware the necessary votes are lacking to abolish the filibuster as desired. ‘The House has passed a budget resolution to get reconciliation started.’
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is drafting a bill to pass parts of the SAVE Act using the budget reconciliation process, bypassing the need for Senate Democrats’ votes.
‘There comes a time when you got to stop talking and just vote,’ Kennedy urged. ‘I’m ready to vote, and I’ll stay as long into August or September as necessary.’
Hannah is a Production Assistant for the Politics team at Fox News Digital.
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