Our government is not functioning like it should, and there is a reason. The Senate filibuster prevents nearly any meaningful legislation from becoming law. And the government shutdown is one further proof of this obvious reality.
The filibuster explains why so little is getting done in Washington. And it is why executive orders by a Republican or Democrat president, are an attempt to fill the void.
Because of the Senate filibuster, Democratic senators kill Republican bills by simply objecting to the legislation being offered for debate, requiring then a super majority of 60 votes to consider the issue. And Republicans do the same to Democratic legislation, when Democrats are in the majority.
Under the Senate filibuster, only one senator, regardless of party, has to object, and that legislation is usually removed from the calendar for debate. The use of the filibuster can only prevent, not pass legislation. The end result, important legislation does not get addressed, and harmful legislation already on the books, cannot get repealed.
Regretfully, the misuse of the filibuster has become a huge impediment to confronting vital concerns about immigration, climate change, public safety, economic development, education, national security, foreign affairs, and so on. It is alarming, but the misuse of the filibuster explains why Congress has done so little in recent years, to address these important issues. And it explains why so many Americans are concerned their government is no longer working as it should.
We are getting a taste of what it must have been like for our Founding Fathers, who attempted to lead our new nation under the flawed Articles of Confederation. This government did not provide for a workable, stable and successful government. Our Founders knew something had to be done.
The failure of our first government, brought George Washington out of retirement, and motivated the establishment of the Grand Convention in Philadelphia, and the ultimate adoption of a new government under the Constitution of these United States, a government that has protected and guided us for over 245 years.
To address concern of the evolution of a dominate president/king, and the tyranny of the majority, the Constitution placed significant restraints designed to respect the minority, and protect our democracy.
Our Founding Fathers made sure we have three separate branches of government: the courts, the executive branch and Congress, with a separate House and Senate, and a Senate with staggered terms.
But today because of the Senate filibuster, we are confronted with distinct ironies our Founding Fathers did not anticipate.
Our country is facing the tyranny of the minority, not the majority, best illustrated by my friend, a former congressman newly elected to the Senate.” He responded to my question, “How do you like being in the Senate?” with this answer, “I love it. I absolutely love it. I can kill practically anything.” So just one senator can kill practically anything, temporarily shutting down the Senate, stopping legislation dead in its tracks.
And because of the Senate filibuster, with little getting done, ironically the president by default, has become the dominant force, given executive orders are becoming more common, and often the only alternative. Our democracy is gradually giving way to a strong overpowering president, with Congress becoming the figurative lapdog.
And because of the filibuster, there is even a further irony — in order to make sure Congress can actually adopt a national budget, the Senate is forced to allow all reconciliation bills to pass through a special expedited procedure, designed to align spending, revenue and debt limits with the congressional budget resolution, by voiding the filibuster rule.
As a biproduct of this exception, senators attempt to attach in reconciliation as many legislative amendments as they can, given this is the only practical alternative to getting anything done. As a result, the reconciliation bill is huge, with distorted amendments manipulated to meet the bill’s stringent budget requirements, resulting in truly poorly written legislation, and precious little debate.
The solution is clear and quite simple. If we believe in democracy we don’t need another Constitutional Convention. The Senate simply needs to abolish the continued use of the filibuster, as the House of Representatives effectively did many years ago, and let the Separation of Powers protections already in our Constitution adequately protect us.
Harshly stated but absolutely true, if one believes in the importance of maintaining the Senate filibuster, they really don’t believe in a workable democracy, with the majority ultimately deciding the outcome. And they are accepting the fact, most issues will remain unresolved, leaving executive orders as an ineffective and potentially destructive alternative.
When exiting the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin acknowledged to the grand dame of Philadelphia, “You have a republic, if you can keep it.”
More Americans have reason to wonder, “Can we keep it?” or is democracy in America slowly becoming a thing of the past? If the Senate continues to allow the use of filibusters, that may very well be the outcome — a government that can no longer function as it should, a government we may no longer be able to keep.
Christopher Shays, a Republican elected office holder for 34 years, was a state representative from Stamford, Conn., from 1974 to 1987, and a member of Congress representing the 4th District from 1987 to 2009.
