Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson said Tuesday on Fox Business that Republicans have every incentive to preserve the Senate filibuster.
President Donald Trump urged Republicans to eradicate the filibuster after Senate Democrats used it numerous times to block the House-passed funding bill during the month-long shutdown. Appearing on “Kudlow,” Hanson said the procedural tool has blocked far more progressive priorities than conservative ones the past two decades.
“I don’t think they should get rid of the filibuster. I think if you look at how it was used the last 20 years, it was more likely to stop left-wing agendas in the Senate than it was conservative agendas,” Hanson told Larry Kudlow.
Hanson said the rule remains one of the only effective guardrails against sweeping Democratic proposals should Republicans lose control of the Senate.
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“And the conservatives are sort of more of a status quo. Let’s have some reverence for the past. The radical proposals that are really dangerous to the Republic come from the Democrats. And the only way you can stop it if you lose the Senate is the filibuster,” Hanson added. “I think it’s 180 years old, so it’s one of the oldest institutions, even though it’s not in the Constitution. So I wouldn’t get rid of it.”
The Senate filibuster has repeatedly stopped major Democratic agenda items over the years. In 2010, the DREAM Act won a simple majority but failed 55–41 because Democrats couldn’t reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. (RELATED: ‘Nuclear Option’: Trump Says Filibuster Should Be Eliminated As Gov’t Shutdown Drags On)
In 2007, Republicans filibustered the Employee Free Choice Act, a top labor-union priority, preventing the bill from even moving to a final vote. And in 2009 and 2010, Democratic leaders abandoned their cap-and-trade climate legislation after it became clear the GOP would filibuster it, denying the bill the 60 votes required to advance.
Democrats repeatedly relied on the filibuster during Trump’s first term to derail major pieces of his policy agenda, including measures like the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
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