EDITORIAL: Dems eager to repeat past filibuster mistake

Leading congressional Democrats are using the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol mayhem as a pretext for radical change under the guise of preserving “democracy.” Its a cynical power play.

It was one year ago Thursday that a horde of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in an effort to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. It was a shameful act, unprecedented in American history. Federal prosecutors have arrested more than 700 people in connection with the turmoil. Those who broke the law should and must pay the consequences.

Democrats see the Jan. 6 rioting as an event they can exploit to mitigate potential losses in this year’s midterm elections. Republicans who continue to assert the falsehood that the presidential election was rigged only play into their hands. Emphasizing the importance of election security is sensible, but the GOP must articulate a forward-looking agenda rather than remain mired in past grievances.

Part of the Democratic playbook is to push a constitutionally dubious bill that would essentially federalize elections. But the law’s passage in the evenly split Senate depends on killing the filibuster, which allows the minority party to block legislation unless at least 60 senators vote otherwise. The tactic has been used by both parties to some degree for more than 180 years and any change would radically alter how the chamber conducts business.

Yet Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently announced that he’ll hold a vote in the next few weeks on reforming the filibuster as it pertains to the voting legislation. The last time his party went down this road — in 2012, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rammed through an exception for federal judicial nominees — the move backfired spectacularly after Republicans regained control of the upper chamber. Imagine how intoxicating the scent of raw power must be for Democrats to repeat that egregious blunder.

Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, both Democrats, issued statements this week indicating they’d go along with altering the filibuster. Both profess to be moderates on the campaign trail yet, once inside the Beltway, march in lockstep with the hard-left progressives calling the shots for the Biden administration.

Enter Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who understands that creating more “limited” exceptions to the filibuster will lead to its eventual abolition, which both parties would soon regret. “Any time there is a carve-out,” he said, “you eat the whole turkey. There’s nothing left.” Sen. Manchin and Sen. Kirsten Sinema, D-Ariz., appear ready to block any effort to significantly alter protections for the minority party.

If only Nevada’s two senators exhibited similar independence from time to time.