Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Senate Democrats on Tuesday that if they dump the Senate filibuster it would result in a “completely scorched earth” Senate that would hurt the Biden agenda in the end.
“Let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues: Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin, can even begin, to imagine what a completely scorched-earth Senate would look like,” McConnell said, adding, “I want our colleagues to imagine a world where every single task, every one of them, requires a physical quorum.”
Pressure has been mounting in recent weeks on Democrats to do away with the rule that requires a 60 vote minimum in the Senate to pass legislation. Some Democratic senators supports reverting back to a talking filibuster, which would force senators to physically be on the floor.
Those arguing for nixing the Senate filibuster said it would allow necessary measures to pass like, HR1, a bill that makes it easier to vote. And also, to get many of President Biden’s big campaign promises signed into law since most are dead on arrival in the Senate now because they would require 10 Republican senators to get onboard.
But McConnell warned that this would not actually move the Biden agenda forward since Republicans would throw up roadblocks at every turn.
“So this is not a trade-off between trampling etiquette but then getting to quickly transform the country. That’s a false choice. Even the most basic aspects of our colleagues’ agenda, the most mundane task of the Biden presidency, would actually be harder not easier,” McConnell said.
“This chaos would not open up an express lane to liberal change. It would not open up an express lane for the Biden presidency to speed into the history books. The Senate would be more like a 100-car pile up, nothing moving,” he added.
He also outlined a list of conservative policies that would pass the next time Republicans control the Senate, including defunding Planned Parenthood, anti-abortion legislation and nationwide concealed carry reciprocity, according to The Hill.
McConnell remarks came one day after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Dick Durbin (D-Ill) said the filibuster was holding the Senate “hostage” and compared it to a “weapon of mass destruction”.
