There Is Nothing Unconstitutional about the Filibuster Reason.com

Those in the Senate majority, and their supporters, have never liked the filibuster, as it often prevents the majority from enacting desired policies. This is particularly true today, as political polarization has increased legislative obstruction.

Assume, for the moment, that the filibuster is bad. Is it also unconstitutional? Some think so. Back in March, law professors Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean at Berkeley) and Burt Neuborne (NYU) argued in the Los Angeles Times that the filibuster gives the Senate minority an “unconstitutional veto” and that Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role as President of the Senate, should simply declare it to be so. Chemerinsky expanded on the argument that the filibuster is “unconstitutional” last month in a solo op-ed in the Sacramento Bee.

The argument that the Senate filibuster is unconstitutional is clever, but it is also thoroughly unconvincing. Let me highlight a few of the flaws in the arguments these op-eds make.

via reason.com

Well, I guess that’s what law professors are for — to make clever but thoroughly unconvincing arguments.