The Senate is once again at a familiar crossroads. Every day, there are new, loud calls to eliminate the legislative filibuster to pass a voting bill — an ironic echo of January 2022, when Democrats sought to do the same. Then, as now, the argument is urgency. The issue is too important, we are told, to be slowed by the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
But urgency has never been a sufficient reason to abandon the guardrails of our democracy. The filibuster is not a partisan tool. It is not designed to serve Democrats or Republicans. It is a structural feature of the Senate that forces consensus, requiring new laws to earn broad support across a diverse and divided country. It is a guardrail — one of many that ensure our system endures beyond the passions of any given political moment.
And yet, each time one party holds power, the temptation is the same: eliminate the obstacle, secure the win, hold on to power. It certainly would feel satisfying, at least in the short term. But history shows what comes next.
In 2013, Democrats weakened the filibuster for nominations. In 2017, Republicans finished the job. The result? A judiciary confirmed by narrow majorities, declining public trust, and decisions that leave half the country feeling unheard. These were not unforeseen consequences — they were predictable outcomes of short-term thinking.
Eliminating the filibuster for legislation would follow the same path and bring the same result. Important laws would pass on pure party-line votes, only to be repealed or rewritten when power shifts — as it always does. Policy would ricochet back and forth, creating instability, eroding trust, and deepening the very divisions we claim to abhor.
The truth is harder, and less convenient: the filibuster is not what’s broken in Washington. Our politics are.
We have become a country in which disagreement too often turns into division, opponents are seen as enemies, and winning has replaced governing.
The filibuster forces us to do the work we have increasingly avoided — listen, negotiate, and build coalitions that reflect the full breadth of the American people. It is not an impediment to progress. It is what makes durable progress possible.
During my time in the Senate, the most meaningful achievements — from infrastructure to CHIPS and Science to school safety and more — came not from simple majorities, but from difficult, lengthy, bipartisan compromise. Those agreements weren’t easy. They required time, trust, and a willingness to engage with people who saw the world differently.
That is the work of democracy.
We face serious challenges as a nation. But abandoning our guardrails will not solve them — it will only accelerate our descent into deeper division.
The Senate should resist the temptation, once again, to trade long-term stability for short-term gain.
We don’t need fewer guardrails. We need better politics, and the courage to do the hard work of governing within them.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema represented Arizona in the United States Senate.
