Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is up for reelection in one of the races that will determine congressional control, has made protecting reproductive rights a cornerstone of her campaign, and she’s willing to back it up by promising to change Senate filibuster rules if Democrats retain control of the chamber.
The Wisconsin Democrat stated that taking that step is vital to ensuring that women in all states, not the government, have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. As part of her campaign, she warns that if Republicans win in November, they may use the filibuster to establish a countrywide abortion ban.
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“Republicans have shown time and again that they will stop at nothing in their pursuit of controlling women’s bodies, and I believe them,” she stated.
Democratic incumbents and challengers running for the Senate this year say they want to reinstate a national right to abortion, and several, including Baldwin, have openly stated that they would support suspending the filibuster to do so. It’s become a significant talking point as they try to capitalize on the national abortion rights debate, which has benefited Democratic politicians since the Supreme Court abolished constitutional safeguards two years ago.
Republicans have chastised Democrats for trying to modify the rules, and they are adamant that they would not do it if they won the presidency and the Senate.
Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, two prominent Republican advocates of abortion rights, have presented legislation to codify the safeguards provided by Roe v. Wade. Collins stated in a statement that she “will oppose any effort to weaken the legislative filibuster” by any party.
According to Senate rules, 60 votes are required to stop debate on a measure, essentially making it the bare minimum of votes needed to enact legislation as a check on the majority. In an era of division and political stalemate, this number, rather than a simple majority in the 100-member Senate, has hampered the ruling party’s efforts to advance its agenda on topics such as voting rights and immigration.
However, whichever party controls the Senate can amend the rules and create exceptions for filibusters with a simple majority vote. In the few instances of its use, people have referred to that measure as the “nuclear option”.
Democrats, led by then-majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, did this for all judicial appointments except the Supreme Court in 2013, when Democrat Barack Obama was president and Republicans had consistently blocked Democratic selections. GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky warned Reid he would regret his action, and Republicans eventually changed the filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominations when they regained control.
This facilitated the appointment of three conservative justices to the court by Republican President Donald Trump, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who received confirmation about a week before the 2020 election. She contributed to the court majority that reversed Roe v. Wade.
While neither party has gone so far as to amend the standards for legislation, many Democrats running for Senate this year have shown strong support for doing so, particularly to protect abortion rights.
“If NASA had the rules of the United States Senate, the rocket ship would never leave the launchpad,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told NBC News earlier this month. “So, at times, at the appropriate time—I think this is one of them—I would consider changing those rules to make sure that women can get the health care they need.”
Senator Bob Casey from Pennsylvania stated that he has consistently supported changing the rules for years. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has consistently called for the elimination of the filibuster to defend abortion and voting rights since the overruling of Roe v. Wade.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who previously spent one term in the House and is Florida’s leading Democratic Senate contender, stated in an NBC News interview this month that she is “very much in favor of pausing the filibuster and voting for a woman’s right to choose to codify Roe v. Wade.”
Her Republican opponent, Sen. Rick Scott, slammed Mucarsel-Powell’s support for the filibuster. He did not say if he would support suspending the filibuster to restrict abortion nationwide, but he has previously backed it as “a vital and necessary rule to protect minority party rights.”
Should we ‘pause’ or pass the Green New Deal? What about stacking the Supreme Court or abolishing the Electoral College? Scott made this statement to The Associated Press, referring to his opponent. “Should we remove it permanently or just halt it when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer instructs her to?””Be honest with the people of Florida about your stance on ‘pausing’ democracy, Congresswoman.”
This phenomenon is not exclusive to Democratic lawmakers and candidates. In 2022, President Joe Biden declared his support for a filibuster exemption to codify abortion rights, a proposal that two moderates, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a Democrat turned independent, stopped.
Political experts believe there will be significant pressure from anti-abortion groups to eliminate the Senate filibuster if the GOP obtains complete control of Washington, but major organizations have de-emphasized the issue, at least publicly.
When asked last month in a Time magazine interview whether he would veto a measure imposing a federal ban, Trump did not respond immediately. Instead, he claimed “there will never be that chance” because Republicans, even if they retake the Senate in November, would lack the 60 votes required to break a filibuster and bring the bill to a vote.
Kristi Hamrick, spokesman for Students for Life, stated that circumventing the filibuster is not a “realistic scenario” because the organization has not seen organized efforts to do so. Instead, she stated that the group will urge Trump to adopt administrative measures to limit abortion, such as prohibiting the shipping and online sale of abortion pills, if elected.
Carol Tobias, head of the National Right to Life Committee, stated that the organization has never taken a position on the issue and instead accused Biden of “intentionally circumventing the filibuster.”
Democrats and abortion rights organizations are skeptical that Republicans would attempt to lift the filibuster rule in order to pass a federal ban.
Mini Timmaraju, head of the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, stated that the GOP and anti-abortion forces are “willing to use every tool in their toolbox to ban abortion nationwide, including circumventing the filibuster.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., similarly threatened a nationwide ban if Republicans win the presidency and Congress.
“We cannot trust anything Donald Trump says about abortion,” Whitmer remarked recently. “So no one should take consolation in the fact that, while he favors an abortion ban, he believes we won’t get 60 votes in the Senate. Baloney.”
Trump has had different opinions on the rule, depending on whether his party controlled the Senate. In 2017, his first year as president, he advocated for an end to the filibuster in order to advance his goals, which included repealing Obama’s health-care system and erecting a border wall. However, in 2021, a year after losing his reelection campaign and with Democrats dominating Congress, he stated that eliminating the filibuster would be “catastrophic for the Republican Party.”
Several high-ranking Republican senators, notably South Dakota’s John Thune, Texas’ John Cornyn, and Wyoming’s John Barrasso, have expressed strong opposition to abolishing the filibuster. Thune and Cornyn are running to succeed McConnell when he leaves leadership after the November election.
Sen. Jim Lankford, R-Okla., stated this week that GOP senators have discussed the subject in private meetings, and he and others have requested guarantees from those competing for leadership that they will not change the rules.
“It is something uniquely American to be able to have a place in government that both sides have to be a part of,” Lankford stated.
