News Outlets Highlight Hatch Foundation Report on Preserving Legislative Filibuster
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Our mission is to pass on Senator Hatch’s legacy to the next generation. And an important part of that legacy is safeguarding the Senate as an institution. To that end, we mounted a powerful defense of the legislative filibuster in the 2022 Hatch Center Policy Review.
Written by Hatch Foundation Visiting Scholar Martin B. Gold, “The Legislative Filibuster: Essential to the United States Senate” makes the definitive case for preserving the time-honored traditions that encourage bipartisanship and compromise. This report caught the eye of media organizations across the country, including Newsweek, Washington Examiner, and Deseret News.
ICYMI, it’s not too late to catch up. Below are the top media hits in our effort to preserve the legislative filibuster.
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By Senator Gordon Smith, Hatch Foundation Board Member
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Fill me in: The 118th Congress is underway, but the upper chamber remains as narrowly divided as ever. This means that the drumbeat to abolish the legislative filibuster—which would empower the Senate to pass bills with a simple majority—will only grow louder in the coming year.
ICYMI: In an op-ed for Newsweek, Hatch Foundation Board Member and former US Senator Gordon Smith explains how he learned to “stop worrying and love the filibuster.” Too often, people's feelings about the filibuster depend on which party is in power. But they shouldn't—and Senator Smith explains why.
Key quote:
“In years past, both Republicans and Democrats have recognized the inherent value of the legislative filibuster. It's just hard (and often politically inconvenient) to recognize it when your party is in power. But where you sit shouldn't determine where you stand. The filibuster is more important than any short-term political agenda. And if we lose it, we lose a bulwark protecting the Senate from even greater polarization.”
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By Matt Sandgren, Hatch Foundation Executive Director
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Courtesy of Washington Examiner
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Fill me in: Hatch Foundation Executive Director Matt Sandgren sets the table for the Hatch Center Policy Review by outlining the unintended consequences that would result from abolishing the Senate filibuster.
ICYMI: Sandgren explains how eliminating the filibuster would supercharge polarization. Whichever party holds power would have carte blanche to push through extreme legislation, with little to no resistance. This overreach would invite backlash from the opposing party—and when that opposing party takes power, it would respond tit for tat.
Key quote:
“Our nation faces a perilous moment, with levels of division higher today than at any period since the Civil War. Abolishing the filibuster would only harden that division. A future without a filibuster is a future without bipartisanship, compromise, and meaningful deliberation—in other words, the very things that make the Senate the Senate. That’s why, for the long-term health of our democracy, we must preserve the legislative filibuster.”
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By Martin B. Gold, Hatch Foundation Visiting Scholar
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Fill me in: The reputation of the legislative filibuster has taken a beating in recent years. In an attempt to strip the Senate of its historical role as the cooling saucer to the hot impulses of the House, the filibuster’s critics have maligned it as an unnecessary hindrance to democracy. But the critics couldn’t be more wrong.
ICYMI: Hatch Foundation Visiting Scholar Marty Gold distills the key arguments from the Policy Review in an op-ed for Deseret News. He observes that the filibuster’s detractors fail to grasp its true purpose. The filibuster is not an enemy to good governance but what makes it possible in the first place. It is a bulwark against polarization, a tool for bipartisanship, and the hallmark of the Senate as an institution.
Key quote:
“It is up to sitting senators and their successors, as stewards of the Senate, to safeguard these traditions. It is up to them to stand against the critics of the filibuster and stand up for the Senate as an institution. For decades, the filibuster has checked the passions of the majority, encouraging bipartisan collaboration and better policy outcomes. May it continue to do so for many years to come.”
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Fill me in: Want to hear a ten-minute summary of the Policy Review from the author himself? Then listen to Gold’s interview with Boyd Matheson of KSL’s Inside Sources. Gold sits down with Matheson to unpack the history of the filibuster and the need to preserve it for the future.
Key quote:
“The filibuster in the Senate has been active on legislative matters for approximately 180 years. …. [It] has a way of extending debate and public education but also has a way of leveraging legislative outcomes.”
Go deeper: Gold also gives a rundown of his report with Utah radio host Rod Arquette. To listen to the full interview, click here.
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Fill me in: The filibuster is the defining characteristic of the United States Senate, making it distinct from the House of Representatives, where legislation passes with a simple majority. Jay Evensen, the senior editorial columnist at Deseret News, explains how the more deliberative nature of the Senate can lead to better policy outcomes.
ICYMI: Evensen uses the Hatch Center Policy Review as a foundation for an insightful op-ed on the merits of the legislative filibuster. As he argues, the filibuster is necessary to prevent the majority from trampling on the rights of the minority.
Key quote:
“[This report] is a well-researched and argued 98-page defense of the filibuster, and it ought to be required reading for everyone in the Senate, even if talk of scuttling the filibuster has faded for the time being.”
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Thanks for reading our media roundup on the legislative filibuster. Be sure to keep up to date with the Hatch Foundation’s publications and programming by visiting our website. And be sure to share your feedback by emailing us at info@orrinhatchfoundation.org.
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