Connecticut’s two Democratic U.S. Senators want to be able to pass a new voting rights law with a 51 vote majority. To do that, they are rallying Democratic support to abolish the filibuster.
The filibuster is a rule in the U.S. Senate that allows the minority party to block legislation and requires a 60-vote majority to override. Richard Blumenthal is Connecticut’s senior U.S. Senator. He was one of only 12 Democrats who voted to get rid of it when he first arrived in Washington 10 years ago.
“Since then almost every Democratic senator has come to the conclusion that the filibuster suppresses Democracy,” Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal still needs to convince two or three more Democrats to change their mind about the filibuster to end the practice.
Chris Murphy is Connecticut’s junior U.S. Senator. He said the election reforms that the Democrats want to get rid of the filibuster to pass would make it easier for all eligible Americans to vote, end the dominance of dark money in elections and ensure that public officials work in the public interest.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me that we have a majority of senators, a majority of members of Congress, the president of the United States, and the majority of Americans who want these reforms to be passed and we can’t get it done," Murphy said.
The “For The People Act” would also start a public election financing system similar to Connecticut’s Citizens Elections Program.
