It appears unlikely that the Senate will get rid of its filibuster rule, even though President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for it, according to a report by CBS News.
The rule, which requires 60 votes to stop debate and push bills forward to a final vote, is an intrinsic part of the Senate, according to Rich Arenberg, co-author of "Defending the Filibuster: Soul of the Senate" and a Congressional staffer for decades.
"I think that would damage the Senate and its historic role and it would be a disaster to do that . . . it's important in that it requires the majority to work with the minority and come to a compromise," Arenberg told CBS News.
Arenberg said he believed that the Senate is moving toward dumping the filibuster.
"I hope we don't get to that, but I do fear that," he told CBS News.
Senate Republicans got rid of the rule when they confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. But after that, a bipartisan collection of 61 senators called for the filibuster to stay intact for legislation, according to Politico.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said there were not enough Republican votes to change the rules of the Senate.
"There are not the votes in the Senate, as I've said repeatedly to the president and to all of you, to change the rules of the Senate. There are not enough. It would require 50 or 51 Republicans to agree to do that and the votes are simply not there," McConnell told reporters, according to CBS News.
Several Republicans in the Senate said they want to keep the rule, but change the threshold for pushing bills forward. "I think changing the rules to streamline the process in an appropriate way — I mean, we should take a look at this," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in the CBS news report.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said he supports keeping the filibuster because Republicans need to keep the future in mind.
"There are going to be times when the Republicans are in the majority, and there are going to be times when we're in the minority. I still think there's a need for a body where consensus has to take place," Wicker told CBS News.
The need for compromise and to earn the minority's support is a key reason for keeping the filibuster, Arenberg said in January in The New York Times.
"Both parties must renew their respect for Senate rules — and the views of the people," Arenberg wrote.
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