Campaign Action
If the Democratic president in office on January 21, 2021, faces Mitch McConnell in the Senate, none of her critical domestic policy initiatives will be achieved. It's that simple. Democrats can take the majority, but getting the 13 seats to get it up to 60 votes is a tall order. Recognizing that, Sen. Elizabeth Warren will call for the filibuster to be eliminated in a Friday speech.
In the speech to the National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton's civil rights organization, Warren plans to call for the filibuster to be eliminated, saying it has been used for generations as "a tool to block progress on racial justice." According to the draft CNN has received, she'll say that Democrats "should be bold and clear" when they take the majority. "We're done with two sets of rules—one for the Republicans and one for the Democrats. […] And that means when Democrats have the White House again, if Mitch McConnell tries to do what he did to President Obama and puts small-minded partisanship ahead of solving the massive problems facing this country, then we should get rid of the filibuster."
In a series of tweets Friday morning, she previewed her call to action. "We’re fighting for big, structural change—but we won't get anything done unless we face this head on," she wrote. "I’ve watched Republicans abuse the rules when they’re out of power, then turn around and blow off the rules when they’re in power," she continued. "We just saw it happen again this week when they unilaterally changed the same rules they abused to ram through President Trump's extreme nominees."
Between the electoral college, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the structure of the Senate, the majority will of the American people has been stymied time and time again by a ruthless and corrupt Republican minority. No progress can be made, no balance achieved if Republicans retain the ability to thwart the Democrats' agenda. This has to be part of the discussion for 2020, and Warren kicking it off means it will be a discussion on the campaign trail, and just importantly, in the Senate Democratic conference.