You did it for the debt ceiling. Now reform the filibuster for voting rights!

Thank you for your commitment to responsible governance and your rejection of Republicans’ debt ceiling partisanship and obstruction. Thanks to your resolve during both the October standoff and again this month, you were successful in staving off economic calamity while revealing Mitch McConnell’s animating priority: to maintain the filibuster and his ability to obstruct Democrats’ other essential priorities by initially insisting that Democrats raise the debt ceiling on their own while filibustering attempts to pursue a long-term extension, Senator McConnell and his Republican caucus created completely unnecessary economic uncertainty. It was a dangerous escalation in the already partisan and gridlocked Senate. However, when it became clear that Senate Democrats were engaged in a serious conversation about Senate rules reform, Senator McConnell caved in October and helped pass a short-term debt limit extension, and then caved once again in December by negotiating a filibuster carve-out for the debt limit. Unfortunately, while Senator McConnell and his Republican caucus allowed the filibuster to be eliminated for this latest debt limit extension, they remain committed to abusing the filibuster to obstruct democracy legislation, such as electoral college reforms, and voting rights legislation, such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Just as we needed to extend the debt limit to avoid economic calamity, we need to pass federal democracy and voting legislation to safeguard our democracy. And just as you had earlier been prepared to recognize that the U.S. economy is more important than the filibuster, I urge you to make a similar assessment when it comes to our democracy and our right to vote. Thanks.

▶ Created on December 13, 2021 by jess craven