Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., much like his mentor and predecessor, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is a creature of that austere and august upper body of Congress who has completely forgotten his duty to Republican voters.
It’s simple math. The Senate issue that the GOP electorate cares most about is passing the Save America Act, with its voter ID requirements and other election security measures, even if it means blowing up the filibuster.
But GOP leadership insists that ending the 60-vote threshold and pushing this hyper-popular legislation through is simply impossible.
Like the filibuster itself, majority and minority leaders appear nowhere in the Constitution. These are rules that the Senate has simply invented, supposedly to make the upper chamber work better.
If he supports killing the filibuster, then his job as party boss is to cajole, threaten and whip his handful of recalcitrant Republican senators into line. You know, as LBJ famously did, by whatever means necessary. Thune has done none of that.
If, on the other hand, Thune wants to keep the 60-vote threshold, then he should step down, or be replaced, not because he owes anything to President Donald Trump, the titular head of the GOP, but because he owes it to the party’s voters.
www.foxnews.com
I agree in principle. The filibuster is an obstructionist tool wielded by the minority party in the Senate. I could care less which party is in power. It needs to be abolished permanently. If a party wins the election taking Congress and the WH, they should be able to pass what they wish. When the opposition takes over (WH/Congress) they can undo what the last majority did. The voters will ultimately determine what laws they want to stay put. Either “elections have consequences” or they don’t….
Thoughts?
It’s simple math. The Senate issue that the GOP electorate cares most about is passing the Save America Act, with its voter ID requirements and other election security measures, even if it means blowing up the filibuster.
But GOP leadership insists that ending the 60-vote threshold and pushing this hyper-popular legislation through is simply impossible.
Like the filibuster itself, majority and minority leaders appear nowhere in the Constitution. These are rules that the Senate has simply invented, supposedly to make the upper chamber work better.
If he supports killing the filibuster, then his job as party boss is to cajole, threaten and whip his handful of recalcitrant Republican senators into line. You know, as LBJ famously did, by whatever means necessary. Thune has done none of that.
If, on the other hand, Thune wants to keep the 60-vote threshold, then he should step down, or be replaced, not because he owes anything to President Donald Trump, the titular head of the GOP, but because he owes it to the party’s voters.
DAVID MARCUS: Sen Thune's duty is to voters, not his Senate colleagues
Senate Majority Leader John Thune faces criticism for prioritizing Senate customs over passing the Save America Act sought by 95% of GOP voters.
www.foxnews.com
I agree in principle. The filibuster is an obstructionist tool wielded by the minority party in the Senate. I could care less which party is in power. It needs to be abolished permanently. If a party wins the election taking Congress and the WH, they should be able to pass what they wish. When the opposition takes over (WH/Congress) they can undo what the last majority did. The voters will ultimately determine what laws they want to stay put. Either “elections have consequences” or they don’t….
Thoughts?
