House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is pushing for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster on budget bills, arguing that the 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber is preventing Congress from accomplishing some of its major legislative goals.
The California Republican noted that the House is slated to pass the last of its 12 appropriations bills Thursday, a feat which hasn’t been accomplished since 2004. Critics of the filibuster argue it hinders the Senate’s ability to accomplish its basic tasks, including completing the appropriations process.
“We will pass them [the appropriations bills] with a majority in Congress. I believe the Senate should do the same, with a simple majority of the Senate,” McCarthy told reporters at the GOP leadership press conference. “The Senate should waive the 60 rule and pass it with a simple majority and take it to the president’s desk.”
McCarthy’s comments fall in line with President Donald Trump’s repeated calls to eliminate the filibuster, who has repeatedly slammed the system for allowing eight Democrats to control what passes. McCarthy has long said he believes the Senate rules are flawed, having called for the elimination of the procedural tool in 2015.
“Think about it we’re going to do approps, and it passes the House with the simple majority of the House, so I would say for our approps bills that same thing should apply in the Senate,” he told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he understands House members’ frustrations with the lack of productivity in the Senate, but feels the filibuster should stay, telling The Associated Press “the founders meant it this way.”
The proposal has been met with criticism from members on both sides of the aisle. Sixty-one Senate lawmakers signed a letter in April calling for the filibuster to remain in place.
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