Big Sky Times

The U.S. Senate is divided over whether the filibuster, the longtime act of preventing a piece of legislation from advancing on the Senate floor through prolonged speech, is a practice that should remain in the legislative branch's upper house.

On June 22, the Senate version of House Resolution 1 failed to proceed to debate following a filibuster by Republican senators. The bill would significantly increase federal control over elections, overriding many state's laws.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) voted for HR 1. The senator has repeatedly stated his support for eliminating—or at least altering and weakening—the legislative filibuster, which, ultimately, appears to have doomed HR1. PBS reported that Tester was part of a Democratic push to modify the parliamentary procedure, if not remove it altogether. 

Earlier in June, Tester asserted his support for eliminating the filibuster to MSNBC, saying that Republican opposition would leave no choice but to "undo" it.

“I didn’t come to Washington, D.C. to get nothing done,” Tester said, according to MSNBC. “If the filibuster continues to be weaponized and it ends up in gridlock, then it doesn’t leave a lot of choices.” 

Typically, the minority party in the Senate tends to support the filibuster, using it as barrier to prevent what it considers unpopular legislation. The controlling party in the upper chamber, however, often looks down on the practice despite previous support while the party was in the minority. 

For example, in 2017 following a Republican sweep of the House, Senate and presidency, a bipartisan group of senators wrote a letter to Senate leaders Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), urging them to leave the filibuster in place. Tester was one of those who signed that letter four years ago.

The letter defended the filibuster as “the right of [senators] to engage in extended debate on legislation.”

Tester’s inconsistency in his stance on the filibuster is apparently not uncommon. According to the Washington Post, 39 Democratic senators have switched their positions on keeping the filibuster intact despite defending the practice during the Trump administration.

Tester's new stance on the filibuster appears to be unpopular with Americans. A Monmouth poll found that an overwhelming 76% of respondents believe that the filibuster should not be eliminated altogether. 

The poll found that most Democrats (79%) would like to see changes in the filibuster process, either reformed or eliminated entirely. Less than 15% of Democrats believe the filibuster should be left as is.

On the reverse, nearly two-thirds of Republican respondents believe the filibuster process should not be touched, and only 10% of GOP voters support filibuster's elimination.

However, some believe that modifications to the filibuster are acceptable. Similarly, a plurality of respondents think the filibuster threshold should be kept at 60 votes, with 46% agreeing.

The filibuster is currently widely supported by Republicans, the controlling party in Tester’s home state, where he faces re-election in 2022. 

The Wall Street Journal reports in November 2020, Montana Republicans had a strong showing in statewide elections, as they maintained a Senate seat with Sen. Steve Daines, and won back the governorship with Greg Gianforte.