Former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich contended that eliminating the Senate filibuster “would be a disaster” during a Wednesday “CNN Newsroom” appearance.
“No, I think doing away with the filibuster would be a disaster for a whole variety of reasons,” Kasich told CNN anchor Kate Bolduan, responding to a question about whether the purported need for gun legislation is “urgent enough of a problem” to merit ending the Senate practice.
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“I mean, the whole purpose of the filibuster is to get the parties to work together,” he continued. “And now what you’re going to do if you get rid of it is you’re going to jam something through against the other side, and whenever you do this no matter what it is, whether it’s in a business, whether it’s in sports, whether it’s in politics, if you jam something through without other people supporting it, it becomes unwieldy and untenable over time.”
With the exception of Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Democratic support for ending the filibuster, a practice that effectively means 60 senators must agree on legislation before it is passed, has increased ever since their party gained a slim 50-50 majority in the Senate with victories in the Georgia runoffs.
Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said ending the rule would mean “the end of the Senate” when former President Donald Trump and Republicans were in control of all three branches, but recently switched his view when his party turned the tables. (RELATED: Hillary Clinton: Abolishing Senate Filibuster Would Force Senators To ‘Work Together’)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to use parliamentary rules to bring the Senate to a grinding halt if Democrats force the issue.