TPA Leads Coalition Letter Opposing the Abolition of the Filibuster

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance and Heritage Action spearheaded and released a coalition letter with 26 other free market and taxpayer groups to urge the Senate to keep the filibuster. In part, the letter read, “The legislative filibuster is an essential part of ensuring a strong system of checks and balances.” The letter can be read in its entirety below or here.

Dear Senators:

The undersigned organizations, representing millions of Americans, urge you to reject efforts to abolish the legislative filibuster. Such a move would effectively stamp out minority rights in the United States Senate and have irreparable, negative effects on our country.

The legislative filibuster is an essential part of ensuring a strong system of checks and balances. While we typically do not weigh in on Congressional procedure, we believe elimination of the legislative filibuster could result in a slew of destructive policy changes.

For decades, members of both parties have sought to protect the rights of the minority party in the Senate to shape policy, including the right of extended debate. This has been the most distinctive feature of the U.S. Senate as an institution for more than 200 years and defines the way that the Senate participates in the legislative process. The legislative filibuster has been used by both parties, and while it can be a frustration to the party in power, it helps to ensure that policy is sustainable and reflective of the entire country – not just those with temporary control in the Senate. As recently as 2017, 61 Senators, including 32 Democrats, stated clear opposition to “any effort to curtail the existing rights and prerogatives of Senators to engage in full, robust, and extended debate as we consider legislation before this body in the future.” The principles of this bipartisan statement ring true today.

Unfortunately, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently declared that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to protecting minority rights in the 117^th Congress. This statement makes it clear that Senator Schumer is willing to permanently unravel the core principles of the Senate to pass an agenda written by his party and his party alone. The harmful impact of this short-sighted move on the institution of the Senate cannot be understated. America’s founders designed a legislative branch with two different chambers – different in both their representation and their operation. Short-term political ends do not justify the means of destroying this design. 

We urge you to carefully consider the harmful impact that one-party rule in the Senate would have on your constituents, and we urge you to reject attempts to eliminate the legislative filibuster.

Sincerely,

Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Americans for Tax Reform

Heritage Action

Club for Growth

Conservative Partnership Institute

March for Life Action

Concerned Women for America

Center for Individual Freedom

60 Plus Association

RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Freedom Foundation

Center for Freedom and Prosperity

The Buckeye Institute

Institute for Liberty

Tea Party Nation

Conservatives for Property Rights

FreedomWorks

Independent Women’s Voice

Market Institute

Heartland Institute

Ethan Allen Institute

Wyoming Liberty Group

Rio Grande Foundation

Hispanic Leadership Fund

California Policy Center

Caesar Rodney Institute

Center for a Free Economy

Less Government