If it seems like we've been having the same filibuster conversation for a year, it's because we basically have been.
In late January 2021, McConnell held up the organizing resolution until he got Manchin and Sinema to publicly reiterate their filibuster support
In late January 2021, McConnell held up the organizing resolution until he got Manchin and Sinema to publicly reiterate their filibuster support
In retrospect, that was an important moment. It separated Manchin and Sinema from their caucus. It made them "the two" who were on record wanting to keep the filibuster. And they haven't shifted their views since
Now, reformers did have a theory for how Manchin and Sinema would be moved. In addition to persuasion and pressure, it needed to become clear that Republicans were outrageously abusing the filibuster to obstruct President Biden's agenda and the basic functioning of government.
But McConnell's Republicans ended up cutting deals on infrastructure, debt ceiling, and government funding. And Biden spent most of his time on a reconciliation bill. So the case for filibuster reform ended up focusing just on voting rights, an emphasis Manchin never liked
I'm not sure whether Republican deal-cutting on those other issues really made the difference. Perhaps Manchin and Sinema would have dug in regardless of what the GOP did. But it certainly didn't help reformers' case from Manchin and Sinema's perspective.
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