Over the course of the 2020 election cycle, Democrats vowed to expand voting rights, pass federal protections for LGBTQ people, provide a $15 minimum wage, and a host of other bold promises.
These platforms were a key component in Democrats maintaining their majority in the House, regaining their majority in the Senate, and earning control of the White House.
But Republican lawmakers, eager to paint Democrats as "all talk, no action" ahead of the 2022 midterms, have shown a near unanimous unwillingness to work with their colleagues across the aisle.
Under the 60 vote threshold imposed by the Senate filibuster, at least 10 Republican votes are needed for most pieces of legislation to advance past debate. The result is a stalled Senate forced to use processes like budget reconciliation to pass some pieces of legislation, while others are dead in the water.
This is why Senate Democrats have long called for the reform or complete abolishment of the filibuster, but not everyone is on board.
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), one of the body's most conservative Democrats, has said he won't consider abolishing the filibuster, but is open to bringing back some reforms to give the majority a chance of passing legislation.
Then there's Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) who maintained her position in a recent interview with Eliza Collins of the Wall Street Journal that the filibuster doesn't need any changes—it's Senators who need to change.
Sinema said:
"When you have a place that's broken and not working, and many would say that's the Senate today, I don't think the solution is to erode the rules,. I think the solution is for senators to change their behavior and begin to work together, which is what the country wants us to do."
Because there are only 50 Democrats in the Senate, the support of every Democratic Senator is imperative for any filibuster reform to occur.
Sinema's refusal to consider it—and her reason for doing so—earned her the ire of social media users.
Meanwhile, pressure on the Senate to do away with the filibuster is mounting.
Will Sinema budge?
