McConnell Blinks on Filibuster, Ending Stalemate on Power-Sharing with Schumer

The election of 2020 is now over, after what felt like an entire year of absolute mania.  Its crescendo came not during the vote tallying, however, but when a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol during the certification of the electoral college’s results.

Now, nearly three weeks removed from that messy moment in American history, Congress is looking to get some work done, and finding it more difficult than ever to do so.  The latest wrench in the gears came as Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer both stood their ground on the filibuster rules for the new session.

On Monday, McConnell finally gave in.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday set aside his demand that a provision preserving the legislative filibuster be included in his power-sharing agreement with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — paving the way for the upper chamber to officially form committees and start tackling major legislative issues on the Biden agenda.

McConnell, R-Ky., decided to relent Monday, he said, after two moderate Democrats doubled-down on their previous stances in support of the legislative filibuster. This almost certainly means that Democrats, many of whom have said they want to get rid of the filibuster, won’t be able to do so for at least the next two years.

The filibuster places a 60-vote procedural hurdle in the way of bills passing through the chamber and is considered a hallmark of the Senate.

Joe Biden’s administration is off and running at a breakneck pace, with the 46th President of the United States setting a record for the amount of executive orders he’s signed over the first 5 days.  Who knows what sort of speed the rest of the government is willing to work at.