The legislative filibuster in the U.S. Senate should be abolished, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wrote in an op-ed appearing in The New York Times.
The Nevada Democrat said the Senate has become “an unworkable legislative graveyard” and that removing the procedure would help stop the "era of obstruction and inaction" in the legislative body.
Reid stressed that "The Senate is now a place where the most pressing issues facing our country are disregarded, along with the will of the American people overwhelmingly calling for action.”
He continued that “The future of our country is sacrificed at the altar of the filibuster... [and] that is why I am now calling on the Senate to abolish the filibuster in all its forms. And I am calling on candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president to do the same."
Reid wrote that the Senate's 60-vote threshold to end debate and hold a final vote has halted broad legislation that could help deal with the vital issues in the 2020 Democratic primary such as climate change, gun control and immigration.
"If a Democratic president wants to tackle the most important issues facing our country, then he or she must have the ability to do so - and that means curtailing Republicans' ability to stifle the will of the American people," he said in the op-ed.
Reid acknowledged that "in bygone eras, the filibuster was a symbol of the Senate's famed role as the cooling saucer for legislation and ideas from the more hot-tempered House of Representatives… [but] sadly, we are not living in the same legislative world anymore" where collegiality and compromise once held sway.