The tool Democrats love to hate may be their saving grace

The Senate filibuster is often viewed as an impediment to progress when Democrats control Washington. But after Trump’s red wave last week, it’s now the last line of defense for Biden’s legacy.

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) told Once Upon a Hill that she wishes Democrats would have nuked the filibuster when they had unified control of the federal government, she s no longer championing reform since championing it now that Republicans will control the White House and Congress.

Following last week’s national red wave, which saw the President-elect sweep every battleground state on his way to a second term and provide the coattails Republicans rode to control of the House and Senate, Democrats have been left to wonder where it all went wrong.

Some say the party’s brand is too toxic for white working-class voters who feel Democrats are morally superior elites focused on policing political incorrectness on social issues at the expense of clearly communicating its economic agenda. 

Others believe a stronger performance from Vice President Kamala Harris would have at least helped Democrats hold their own in the down-ballot races where incumbents and challengers were unable to overcome the political headwinds from the top of the ticket.

More than a few, such as Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), lament Democrats’ failure to eliminate a powerful legislative device that enabled Senate Republicans to block the most significant provisions of the Build Back Better Act, a $2.2 trillion bill that would have enacted free universal preschool for all three- and four-year-olds, capped child care costs at seven percent of a working family’s income, provided four weeks of paid family leave, extended the enhanced child tax credit for a year and more.

That device is known as the filibuster, which enables a 60-vote majority to end debate on most major legislation before senators vote on final passage at a simple-majority threshold. 

And although the filibuster is the tool Democrats love to hate, it could also be the one that protects the legislative achievements they passed during the Biden administration—from the infrastructure law to the Inflation Reduction Act to the CHIPS and Science Act—since Republicans will hold just 53 seats next Congress and be unable to undo those laws without buy-in from more than half a dozen Democrats at minimum.

“I think this is where it goes back to before this election, right?” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and one of the most outspoken critics of the filibuster, told me on Monday afternoon. “If we had had control of the trifecta and gotten rid of the filibuster to pass minimum wage, to pass paid sick leave, to pass many of these things—abortion access—that are passing on ballot measures that are so popular—those aren't going to the state legislatures either. Those are going to the ballot—then I think we would have built some trust with the American people.”