The Filibuster and the Zone of Legislative Death

April 30, 2021 ☼ filibustergop

Source: The Atlantic - Link

Senators are elected by popular vote, meaning we can determine how many voters each major party represents. We added up the votes cast in the most recent election of all 100 senators. The result is a national popular vote, spread over several years. In the current Senate, whose members were elected in 2016, 2018, and 2020, the 50 Democratic-caucusing senators, including independents Bernie Sanders and Angus King, received 52.4 percent of the vote, while the 50 Republican senators received 47.6 percent.

The filibuster, as it stands, is a failure. It gives a minority of the population from rural states full-control of the policy. It will need to be modified in some fashion.