Senate Republicans Flirt With Nuking the Filibuster

[Celerity]

GOP Senators are chipping away at the 60-vote threshold, marking one more step toward majority rule in the upper chamber.

https://newrepublic.com/article/195647/senate-republicans-going-nuclear-filibuster

https://archive.ph/0Ogs4


Senate Majority Leader John Thune conducts a news conference after the Senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on May 20.

It’s a tale as old as time—or, rather, roughly as old as a seventh grader: The party controlling the Senate takes action to weaken the filibuster, and the minority party warns of a tyrannical majoritarian upper chamber that will undermine its perhaps outdated reputation as the “cooling saucer” of Congress.

The latest salvo in this long-running conflict occurred on Wednesday, when Senate Republicans pressed forward with a simple-majority vote to overturn California’s electric vehicle mandate, despite an assessment by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, or GAO, that it should be subject to the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who advises the upper chamber on proper procedure, has sided with the GAO on this issue, and Democrats warn that moving forward would set a dangerous precedent in weakening the filibuster.

“No, this isn’t the same as killing the filibuster. This actually goes way, way beyond that. First, they are doing more than going nuclear on the parliamentarian. They are going nuclear on the Congressional Review Act itself,” argued Senator Alex Padilla of California in a speech ahead of the vote.

Let’s rewind a bit—about 30 years ago, to be precise. Since 1996, the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, has allowed Congress to overturn executive agency rules under expedited procedures, meaning that it is not subject to the filibuster, but instead can be vacated with a simple majority threshold. OK, now fast-forward: In 2024, the Biden administration granted California a waiver to implement an electric vehicle mandate. The GAO assessed that this waiver did not count as an executive agency rule, meaning that it could not be subject to the CRA.

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[Bev54]

1. It was expected that they would do it

Never quite understood why Dems didn’t do it when they had the opportunity. It has kept the minority rule for too long. I just wish it wasn’t now and not them.

[RJ-MacReady]

2. I oppose them doing

But I support our side doing it, yes its hypocritical but so what? If they don't do it then our side needs to do it first thing when we control house senate and white house. Then add new blue states and expand the courts. We will see though what happens here.

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. By ignoring the ruling of the parliamentarian, they have already effectively killed the filibuster

Now, every bill can get an up/down vote on the floor of the senate, and senators cannot hide behind the filibuster to avoid accountability.

When Dems retake the senate, Schumer, or whoever is majority leader, must not do anything to resurrect this monstrous relic of the Jim Crow era.

R.I.P. The Filibuster.

Good riddance.

[Walleye]

4. We should keep on pointing out that they don't really have a mandate if they have to do this

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Well, that would detract from the Senate being

considered the deliberative body of Congress. Maybe Republicans should consider how they’ll like it when Democrats have the majority.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. GOP Senators are NOT going to bypass the Senate Parliamentarian on trump's nasty big bill

The trump bill has a ton of provisions that are NOT proper under reconciliation rules. trump and others want the Senate republicans to not submit this bill to the Senate parliamentarian for review and instead pass the bill without complying with the reconciliation rules. For example the part of the trump bill that provides that the courts cannot enjoin trump if he violates the law. That provision is clearly void under the reconciliation rules.

I am happy to see that the Senate is NOT going to go around the Senate Parliamentarian because if the GOP pulls this stunt, then the Democrats would be free to also ignore the filibuster rules. Having to have the Senate Parliamentarian pass on this bill which should mean that good number of the provision in this bill will be deleted.

Link to tweet

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/06/02/congress/senate-parliamentarian-overrule-thune-00380848

Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled Monday that Republicans won’t move to overrule the chamber’s parliamentarian during an upcoming debate on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

“We’re not going there,” Thune said when asked by reporters about overruling Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who will play a special role in vetting the bill for compliance with the strict Senate rules allowing Republicans to bypass a Democratic filibuster.

Senate staffers met with MacDonough during last week’s recess to vet the House-passed megabill and talk through their own ideas, conversations first reported by POLITICO. Thune said that committee staffers tasked with drafting the legislation will continue conferring with her this week and next week. At the end of the process, MacDonough will make rulings on whether various policies comply with the chamber’s rules.

The question about the fate of the parliamentarian comes after Senate Republicans sidestepped her in a recent fight to nix waivers allowing California to set its own emissions standards.

At least one of Thune’s members is already publicly floating that his party should be willing to directly overrule MacDonough on the megabill. In a tweet last month, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on X that “disagreeing with the Senate parliamentarian may be warranted if the parliamentarian gives bad advice, and it’s wrong to suggest otherwise.”

Several significant pieces of the House-approved bill are at risk of falling out of the legislation as it moves through the Senate.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. House reconciliation bill provision that would bar states from regulating AI for ten years

This provision is clearly not permissible in reconciliation.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

There are a ton of provisions like this that need to be stripped from this bill