logo
welcome
Washington Examiner

Washington Examiner

Filibuster flip-flop: Senate Democrats ready to embrace tool to stonewall Trump

Washington Examiner
Summary
Nutrition label

74% Informative

Democrats are set to use whatever tools they have available to block Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump's agenda.

The 60 -vote threshold has been in place for most legislation since 1975 .

Democrats have long sought to abolish the filibuster, with proposals from eliminating it altogether to creating policy carveouts for issues such as voting rights, abortion access, and gun control.

Republicans and Democrats have played a tit-for-tat in creating filibuster carveouts for presidential nominations.

Democrats lowered it to a simple majority in 2013 to confirm Cabinet picks and judges, excluding Supreme Court nominees.

In 2017 , Republicans returned the favor by lowering the threshold for Supreme Court confirmations.