The filibuster

The filibuster is an old Senate rule that was theoretically meant to give a voice to the minority party. Instead, it’s been used as a way to prevent passage of laws the majority of Americans support. 

During the civil rights era, southern segregationist Democrats used the filibuster to block laws that would have established fair housing rules, or would have made lynching a crime – which, to this day, is still not a law ­– along with dozens of other civil rights laws. Even the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed after a months-long filibuster. 

Currently, because of the way the Senate is apportioned, just 16 percent of the population is allotted 50 percent of the representation in the Senate. That means that senators representing just 16 percent of the population can use the filibuster to run roughshod over the will of the people. It was not right in the 1960s and it’s not right now.

Abolishing the filibuster would mean passing significant legislation on issues Americans care about like gun legislation, climate change and police violence.