Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) appeared amused Monday by a surprise wave of support from her colleagues for Senate filibuster as Democrats prepare to become the minority party in the Senate.
“Please, please, please stop what you are doing and read these quotes,” the Democrat-turned-independent wrote on X, referring to a Washington Examiner story about senators from her former party who now support the procedural hurdle.
Sinema added: “The filing is titled: gloating.”
The outlet quotes a number of prominent Democrats, including Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), indicating their support for the filibuster. As a way to obstruct President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming agenda.
“I would be lying if I said we would be better off without the filibuster,” Blumenthal said. “We have a responsibility to stop abuses of power or long-standing, authoritarian politics, and we will use whatever tools we have at our disposal. We will not fight this battle with one hand tied behind our backs.”
“We had to live with it when we were in the majority,” Durbin said of the rule that requires a 60-vote threshold to end debate and pass most types of legislation in the Senate.
The Illinois Democrat added that he views the filibuster as “part of the calculation” for how Democrats will operate with a 53-47 GOP majority in the Senate next January.
“You're playing by the rules that are in place,” Murphy told the outlet, stressing that although he is open to amending the filibuster rules, he no longer wants to “obliterate” them.
The Connecticut Democrat noted that the Senate's filibuster in the 2021 elections is “absolutely dangerous,” calling it “a slap in the face of the majority.”
Schatz, who criticized Republicans' “unprecedented abuse of the filibuster” during the Obama administration while endorsing the reforms, told the Washington Examiner that “I'm going to try not to make a mess of my position on this situation.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to blow up the filibuster in 2022 but failed when then-Democratic Sens. Sinema and Joe Manchin (I.W.Va.) refused to vote for the rule change.
In August, when asked about the possibility of trying to kill the filibuster again, Schumer (D-N.Y.) indicated to The Post that Sinema and Manchin were “gone” in 2025.
Manchin and Sinema did not seek reelection this year and are retiring from the Senate.
A spokesman for Schumer did not respond to The Post's request for comment on whether he supports keeping the filibuster in place with Republicans in control of the Senate, House and White House.
