Dems urge Newsom to consider filibuster foe
Election day is two weeks away, but California progressive and labor leaders already have a demand of Gov. Gavin Newsom should Sen. Kamala Harris be elected vice president: Pick a replacement who will help get rid of the Senate filibuster to improve Democrats’ chances of passing bills.
The filibuster is the rule that allows a minority of 40 senators in the 100member chamber to block a vote on any bill. Its elimination is rapidly moving up the todo list for Democrats, noting that Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has shown little willingness to reach across the aisle, is likely still to be leading Republicans next year even if they lose the Senate.
All it would take is a simple majority of the Senate to kill the filibuster.
“The single most important consideration in making this momentous decision must be whether the person you choose is committed to ... ( being) a true champion for a functional, effective Senate,” said a letter written to Newsom on Monday, whose signers included the head of the 2.1 millionmember California Labor Federation and the progressive group Courage California, which claims 1.4 million members.
“Senator Harris’ replacement must be as good as she has been on this topic. The filibuster must either be eliminated or reformed to such a
degree that it can no longer block the progress our nation so desperately needs,” said the letter, which was shared exclusively with The Chronicle.
With Republicans playing defense in several states, Democrats have a shot at flipping control of the Senate in November. The letter to Newsom is an indication of progressives’ concern that Democratic priorities such as expanded governmentfunded health care, tax changes, climate change initiatives and coronavirus stimulus could still be thwarted next year by Republicans led by McConnell, who once said his top priority as Senate minority leader was to deny President Barack Obama a second term.
It’s also a sign of their frustration that many establishment Democrats — including Harris’ California colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein — aren’t pushing back harder now against Republicans. Feinstein told Business Insider in August that the filibuster is “a part of Senate tradition, which creates a sobering effect on the body, which is healthy.”
Leaders of the Latino and senior caucuses of the California Democratic Party joined labor federation leader Art Pulaski and Irene Kao, head of Courage California, in signing the letter to Newsom. Also among the 27 signers was Bob Schoonover, leader of the SEIU California State Council, which represents 700,000 workers.
The letter was sent to Newsom by Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party, who added in a cover note, “I hope the timing speaks to the urgency with which we prioritize the voice of California’s future leaders in the modification or elimination of the filibuster.”
If Democratic nominee Joe Biden is elected president, Newsom will appoint someone to fill out the remaining two years of Harris’ term. That person could then run for election in 2022 — when labor and progressive backing, or opposition, might make or break a Democrat’s candidacy.
“We don’t want the people who are on the ( Harris replacement) list to be cagey about their answer,” said Amar Shergill, chair of the progressive caucus of the California Democratic Party. “What we need to make clear to Gavin Newsom and to the people on his list is that they should never expect
“The filibuster must either be eliminated or reformed to such a degree that it can no longer block the progress our nation so desperately needs.” Letter from California progressives to Gov. Gavin Newsom
to get support from progressives and labor in the future if they don’t support getting rid of the filibuster.”
Angelica Salas, a veteran immigration reform activist, said, “It’s not just about winning the presidency. We also want to be effective. We want to get things over the finish line after decades of being stalled. It’s time to finally get something done.”
Salas, who is the executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said a Republican wielded filibuster could block legislation that a majority of Americans support, such as a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. A Gallup poll in January 2019 found that 81% of Americans support such a pathway.
“Those rules are getting in the way of justice,” Salas said.
Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar told The Chronicle that “the governor will await the election results before engaging in what would be a great privilege and duty of filling a Senate vacancy, but for now, remains laserfocused on leading the state’s response to wildfires and helping Californians during this global pandemic.”
Fueling the push for a filibuster opponent is the frustration that many progressives have toward Feinstein. She has been in the Senate since 1992, and much of the Democratic left sees her as clinging to a collegial style of legislating through compromise that no longer exists in Washington.
“Sen. Feinstein believes in bipartisanship. That’s an ideal, but that’s not reality,” Salas said. “It hasn’t been the reality in a long time, and she hasn’t adapted her leadership style to the present.”
Salas said that when she first started working on immigration issues, “I tried to get Republicans to support the ideals of immigration. Some listened. But when it came down to casting the votes, they didn’t show up. What I’ve seen is that Sen. Feinstein keeps trying to find partners, and the partners never show up.”
Feinstein took a lot of heat from fellow Democrats during last week’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, when the senator said she was “really impressed” with the former law professor’s answer about legalities surrounding the Affordable Care Act, even though Barrett was largely evasive in her responses.
Feinstein closed the hearings Thursday by thanking Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, RS. C., for his “fairness” and “leadership,” and then hugged him.
“Sen. Feinstein’s outoftouch flattery of Lindsey Graham and her continued support of the filibuster underlines what has become obvious in California; we need a truly progressive senator to lead the battles ahead,” said Shergill, the state party’s progressive caucus chair.
Criticism of Feinstein has broadened beyond California. On Friday, NARAL ProChoice America President Ilyse Hogue called for Feinstein to be replaced as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Two years ago, NARAL endorsed Feinstein for reelection, saying, “We need leaders in the Senate like Sen. Feinstein who will stand up for the rights of women and families across California.”
Feinstein said in a statement last week that “the Senate is structured so the majority had absolute control over this ( confirmation) process. When Republicans signaled they’d move ahead in the face of all objections, the only thing we could do was show this nominee would radically alter the court, and we accomplished that.”
One other person who opposes ending the filibuster is Biden, who spent 36 years in the Senate. Shergill said, “We are blessed that future President Biden doesn’t decide how the Senate operates.”