Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

Say Goodbye to the Senate Filibuster

Traditions and incentives that once allowed most legislation to pass by majority vote have collapsed. Without them, the rules have to change.

January 25, 2021 at 12:30 PM UTC

By Jonathan Bernstein

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

On the way out.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images

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I’m seeing a lot of arguments right now about whether Democrats should eliminate the filibuster and move toward a majority-rules U.S. Senate. The main thing to understand about this is that the 60-vote Senate that’s been around since 2009 (and, to a lesser extent, since 1993) is unstable. It will not last.