Editorial: Democrats' filibuster flip-flop

The Editorial Board, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Mar 26, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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Democrats were against the filibuster before they were for it.

The left continues to rage against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for casting a vote to avoid a government shutdown. He and a handful of other Democrats, including Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, voted to break the filibuster on the funding bill.

It’s unclear why some Democrats believe a government shutdown would have helped their political fortunes. Almost every Republican would have voted to keep the government open, while almost every Democrat would have supported shutting it down. The disruption probably would have helped the Trump administration shrink the size of government, too.

Schumer didn’t help himself with his waffling. He initially said Senate Democrats would oppose the continuing resolution. In a nod to political reality, he quickly reversed course.

Amid this Democratic infighting, former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema pointed out another flip-flop. Democrats who previously demanded that the Senate abolish the filibuster are now furious that the party didn’t use it.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told Senate Democrats not to “betray working families.” Sinema took a screenshot of a previous post by Jayapal. It read, “It’s the filibuster or raising the minimum wage. It’s the filibuster or protecting voting rights. The choice is clear. Abolish the Jim Crow filibuster.”

“Just surprised to see support for the ‘Jim Crow filibuster’ here,” Sinema wrote. Ouch.

She also took aim at Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. In 2021, he called for ending the filibuster to pass a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Rep. Khanna wrote that the filibuster is “an arcane procedural tool that President Barack Obama recently called ‘a Jim Crow relic.’”

Sinema was having none of it. She chastised him for demanding “that the Senate eliminate the very tool you’re now demanding the Senate utilize to stop Trump. Doesn’t take rocket science to see the blatant hypocrisy here.”

Democrat hypocrisy on this issue goes back for decades. During the funeral of Rep. John Lewis, Obama did indeed label the filibuster a “Jim Crow relic.” Yet as a senator, he supported filibustering more than 20 bills.

Sinema has a personal interest in this fight. In 2022, she refused to support killing the filibuster when Democrats had a narrow Senate majority. The backlash was so bitter that she left the party to become an independent. She didn’t seek re-election in 2024. It’s little wonder she’s taking the time to point out this duplicity.

The country is better off when politicians have principles beyond obtaining and wielding power. When it comes to the importance of the filibuster, too many Democrats don’t.

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