Mitch McConnell continues to have temper tantrums over the filibuster. I’m not sure it’s working for him.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appears to have inadvertently boosted Rep. John Yarmuth’s (D-KY) argument to reform or eliminate the filibuster in an op-ed the senator published in the the Courier Journal on Monday.
McConnell took aim at Yarmuth’s own op-ed published last week, which decried the Senate minority leader’s floor speech last week “frenetically predicting legislative Armageddon” in the chamber if Democrats were to go nuclear on the filibuster.
McConnell defended the filibuster by arguing that the procedure exists to “block bad ideas from becoming law and to encourage bipartisan solutions” — a point that Democratic senators like Yarmuth share, but with the concern that President Biden’s legislative agenda will hit more roadblocks if the reform or elimination of the filibuster doesn’t occur.
McConnell hit back at Yarmuth calling the filibuster a “minority veto” and defended the legislative roadblock as “Kentucky’s veto,” insinuating that senators from more populous states such as California or New York would have more weight in putting a stop to Republicans’ legislative priorities.
“As the only congressional leader not from New York or California, I put Kentucky’s priorities front and center,” McConnell wrote. “If Yarmuth had his way, Speaker Pelosi would have a free pass to leave Middle America out in the cold.”
But McConnell’s argument essentially proves Yarmuth’s point. As Vox pointed out in November, with Democrats securing both Senate seats in Georgia, the 50 Democratic senators represent 41.5 million more Americans than the 50 Republicans in the chamber. Kentucky’s population is about 4.5 million people, compared to about 39.5 million in California and 19.5 million in New York, respectively.
He went on the floor yesterday and fulminated over the issue for quite a while. He seems very upset.
But if he wants to start talking about how the filibuster is unfair to the minority, let’s discuss it. The Senate is an undemocratic institution that favors a minority of Americans which that minority uses to oppress racial minorities. I don’t think many people know how all that works. Let’s talk about it.