Sen. Tester BROKE His Promise to OPPOSE Dismantling the Filibuster!

I am so disappointed in your vote to dismantle the Senate filibuster. 

In 2017, you signed a letter with 60 other senators from both parties promising to “preserve the ability of [Senators] to engage in extended debate.” With this vote, you turned your back on Montana and broke your word to me and everyone else in our great state. Despite the narrative pumped out by political partisans and the media, the American people simply don’t want to live under the kind of government that the destruction of the filibuster would create. 

The fact that the filibuster prevents you and your colleagues from passing a bill you support is not a “glitch” in the Senate rules. It’s a feature. The filibuster is supposed to force both parties to move away from the extreme, compromise, and hopefully pass something that benefits all Americans, not just advance the political aims of a radical minority.

Simply silencing dissent doesn’t resolve political disagreements or division. Dismantling the Senate rule requiring 60 votes to end debate would worsen partisanship and create a vicious cycle of political whiplash where both parties replace their opponents’ extremist policies with their own extremist policies after every election.

Eliminating the filibuster is a partisan tactic to make it easier to ram through one-sided legislation. It would increase partisanship and division, stifle debate, and usher in the potential for dramatic changes to institutions, such as packing the Supreme Court. 

I urge you to consider what your colleagues would do once they’re back in power if you were to dismantle the filibuster now. If you don’t like how that sounds, I urge you to remember your promise to the people of Montana and oppose any further efforts to dismantle the filibuster.