Why we need to end the filibuster...

Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House, but to pass progressive legislation, including democracy reforms, universal health care, climate change legislation, and immigration reforms, we need to abolish the filibuster. As the Senate’s rules exist today, Republicans in the Senate will still have the power to block every single progressive priority using a procedural tool called the filibuster, which requires at a minimum 60 votes to advance legislation.
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It's simple: none of the progressive issues that Democratic candidates and congressional leaders are discussing today will become law unless we do something about the filibuster. If Mitch McConnell expects to be the Grim Reaper of progressive policies, the scythe he’ll use is the Senate filibuster. Unless we change the rules.

If you'd like to hear more from our Indivisible National team about this history of the filibuster and all the reasons why we need to eliminate it to achieve our legislative goals, visit Indivisible's Filibuster 101 resource.

What is at stake?

Almost everything Democrats care about can be blocked if we don't end the filibuster. Nearly every important issue can be blocked by Mitch McConnell and the 50 Republicans senators if we leave the filibuster in place.  Some of those issues are:
  • Voting rights
  • Common sense gun reform (like background checks)
  • Campaign finance reform
  • Justice in policing
  • Increasing the federal minimum wage
None of that can get done with the filibuster in place.                            

Ending the Filibuster - talking points

1️⃣ The filibuster is NOT required under the Constitution. For most of the Senate’s 230-year history, legislation was passed with simple majorities. Even after the filibuster was created in the early 1800s, its use was rare. That changed in the second half of the 20th century when the filibuster was increasingly used by both parties to block legislation. However, while both parties have used the filibuster, it has been weaponized to a greater extent than ever before by Republicans.
3️⃣ ​The filibuster was used for years to block landmark civil rights legislation. Southern Democrats used it to kill anti-lynching legislation numerous times over the course of the 20th century — in fact, because of this obstruction the Senate didn’t pass an anti-lynching bill for the first time until 2018. Just last year President Obama referred to the filibuster as "a Jim Crow relic" and he is 100% correct in that assessment. It is a legislative tool that has been used again and again to suppress people of color.
2️⃣ The filibuster makes the country ungovernable, according to Barack Obama. Reforming the filibuster is not a radical idea held by fringe leftists. In 2018, Barack Obama argued that the filibuster has got to go. Reflecting on his own presidency, Obama said, “Adding the filibuster … has made it almost impossible for us to effectively govern at a time when you have at least one party that is not willing to compromise on issues.”  ​
4️⃣ Our nation's Founders thought that requiring a supermajority to pass a bill was a BAD idea.  James Madison, in Federalist 58, said that requiring a supermajority should be avoided because "power would be transferred to the minority." And in Federalist 22, Alexander Hamilton said that requiring a supermajority to pass bills would "destroy the energy of government and to substitute the pleasure, caprice or artifices of an insignificant, turbulent or corrupt junta, to the regular deliberations and decisions of a respectable majority."

YOU can help end the filibuster!
There are always things that engaged and dedicated community members can do to make a difference.  See what option works best for you, or do them all!
Option 1:
Send this letter to Senator Casey!
We've created a constituent contact form to make it easy for you to pass along your thoughts on eliminating the filibuster and the rest of Indivisible's democracy enhancing agenda items.

​Some talking points you might use in the comments section are:
  • the filibuster is a relic of the Jim Crow era and has a long history of being used to thwart democracy-enhancing reforms
  • the need for a supermajority to pass legislation was an idea that was thought of, and deemed unworkable, by our nation's founders
  • the filibuster makes our country ungovernable
You can download and print this constituent contact form and then mail it to one of Senator Casey's offices.   ​⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
casey_contact_form_filibuster.pdf
File Size: 85 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
Use this link to find the Casey office closest to you, or send it to his DC office:
Senator Bob Casey
393 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

​Option 2:
Record an Indivisible Soapboxx video!
Indivisible has an excellent video uploading tool called Soapboxx that allows to to record and upload video to lawmakers on issues critical to Indivisible's democracy-enhancing agenda.

Visit the Indivisible Soapobox campaign to "​Demand the Senate Eliminate the Filibuster to Save Our Democracy" by clicking the button below.
Option 3:
Make calls to friendly AZ voters!
Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) is one of the Democrats who has been the most vocally opposed to ending the filibuster. We are calling up friendly voters in Arizona to encourage them to contact Senator Sinema to remind her that is at stake if she refuses to change her mind.
This phone bank tool is available between 8AM and 8PM LOCAL (Arizona) time. It will not allow one to make calls before or after.  Consider putting together a call banking Zoom with group members to take a collective action to help end the filibuster with this call banking tool!