On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) stated that Republicans “need Democratic votes” to end the government shutdown “because of the filibuster,” and he still wants to eliminate the filibuster like he did back in 2021 because he thinks the filibuster is harmful.
Smith stated that, “because of the filibuster, now they need Democratic votes. The point of the filibuster is to force Democrats and Republicans to work together. But what Trump decided to do was no, the point is, we’re not going to negotiate with you, you just have to vote for our thing. And that’s not the way this is supposed to be approached. If they want to do a straightforward, 100% Republican budget, then, yeah, they ought to get rid of the filibuster and go ahead and just have Republicans vote for it. But the better option is to negotiate with Democrats, deal with the healthcare crisis, get the government back open, and stop the pain that is happening right now for so many Americans, and is only going to get worse, as you said.”
Host Jim Sciutto then asked, “Let me ask you this, because you posted back in May 2021, when Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress, you wrote, ‘It’s time to get rid of the filibuster to build a more just and equitable nation.’ Would you — do you still hold that position regarding the filibuster?”
Smith answered, “I do, yeah, like I said, I think part of the problem — like I said, the filibuster was designed to force negotiation. It’s pretty clear, at this point, that that’s not happening. And what it’s really doing is frustrating democracy, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you win, you get in charge, and then you can’t do anything. So, I don’t think the filibuster is serving any particularly useful purpose in terms of forcing negotiation, and it’s absolutely frustrating democracy.”
Smith added that the filibuster is “definitely doing harm.”
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