Don’t Scrap the Filibuster. Mend It.

The Senate will soon be asked to vote on contentious bills to tighten gun controls and reform the country’s electoral systems. As things stand, these and other measures, strenuously opposed by Republican legislators, are unlikely to become law even though Democrats control the presidency and both chambers of Congress. The reason is the filibuster — the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to end debate and pass a bill.

Democrats have good reason to object to the filibuster, and they’re certainly right to deplore its abuse in recent years. They have a compelling case for changing the rules so that blocking the majority is harder. But scrapping the filibuster altogether, as many Democrats now favor, would be bad for the country — and a mistake they’d almost certainly regret in the not-too-distant future.