Stop blaming Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin: We are all wrong on the Filibuster Rule

The charades and finger-pointing of Washington know no bounds. While I am disappointed in the decisions of U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, the two Democrats from the so-called Red States are making their calculations based upon their re-election strategies and the projected 2022 Congressional elections.

However, their erroneous comments regarding the U.S. Constitution and American history aside, their votes do not matter.

In 1872, the filibuster rule was created arbitrarily, and accidentally, when Vice President Schuyler Colfax (R-NY), as President of the U.S. Senate, ruled that “under the practice of the Senate the presiding officer could not restrain a Senator in remarks which the Senator considers pertinent to the pending issue.” That’s it. An arbitrary ruling by the sitting Vice President. No debate. No Constitutional Amendment.

Since that time, the filibuster has evolved from a form of courtesy and a rare procedural tactic to a governing norm. Originally, as Colfax intended it, the concept was about civility. Since that time, however, the filibuster has evolved from a form of courtesy and a rare procedural tactic to a governing norm.

When looking at the Filibuster Rule, constitutionally, it is important to set aside the facts that Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-MT) limited the filibuster rule in 1975, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (TN-R) attempted to limit it in 2005, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed (NV-D) limited the Filibuster Rule in 2013, and that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell limited the Filibuster Rule in 2017. The Majority Leaders made those calculations politically, not constitutionally.

More to the point, those positions are significantly constitutionally and historically inaccurate. As Wolfensberger (2021) points out that the U.S. Vice Presidents, as Presidents of the U.S. Senate, have the constitutional authority to rule on the filibuster. Vice President Richard M. Nixon (CA-R) made rulings, as President of the Senate, regarding the Filibuster Rule. Senate Presidents Hubert Humphrey (MN-D) and Nelson Rockefeller (NY-R) also made rulings on the Filibuster Rule.

For U.S. Senators, like McConnell, Sinema, and Manchin, it is important to maintain the legislative filibuster to preserve minority power (not “rights”) in the U.S. Senate. It is about posturing, political rhetoric, and the powers of the Minority Leader (Keefe, 2018). That is the fear behind some current Democratic critics of the Biden-Schumer call for reforming or eliminating the filibuster rule. Those voices are wrong; ethically and morally.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden do not need Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. They need Senate President Kamala Harris.

We all know it is neither historical, Constitutional, nor democratic. U.S. President Trump has called for the ending of the filibuster. On January 11, 2022, President Joe Biden, a longtime defender of the filibuster rule said its time for it to go (Rogers, 2022). His predecessor, President Barrack Obama’s position has evolved as well since his experiences as a U.S. Senator and the leader of the Executive Branch (Stabile, 2022). In a recent Op-Ed, he wrote that the filibuster must go (Obama, 2022). Vice President Dick Cheney also has said it should go. Will Vice President Harris join former Vice Presidents Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and Nelson Rockefeller, or will we see continued political blame on two U.S. Senators whose votes don’t matter regarding the so-called Filibuster Rule?

Wolfenberger, D. (2021). VPs Hold Key on Filibuster Change. The Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/vps-hold-key-filibuster-change