NOW PLAYING
Former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Sunday defended the filibuster, saying the U.S. needs it in the Senate.
Sasse wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the filibuster “provides a bulwark against consolidated power,” a tradition preserved as “a prerequisite for national recovery and endurance.”
The filibuster is not a part of the Constitution, but as Congress deliberates over passing legislation that will become law, it gives the public time to “come aboard –– or to object angrily,” he wrote.
“While the Senate’s filibuster rule isn’t in the text of the most glorious political document ever written, it plays a critical role in limiting and dividing power. Via procedural requirements to secure a supermajority of 60 votes before legislation can be passed, the filibuster safeguards the spirit of the Constitution’s anti-consolidation objective and prevents the misery of never-ending Flight 93 elections,” Sasse writes, referring to the name of one of the flights hijacked during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Sasse, who has stage 4 pancreatic cancer, added that when partisan lawmakers talk about “killing or ‘reforming’ the filibuster, they’re saying they want to turn the Senate into another House of Representatives.”
He argues that that this would be a “tragic mistake.”
“The filibuster prevents the dramatic pendulum swings that are the natural result of simple-majority lawmaking,” the former lawmaker wrote. “Every election and every vote becomes an existential crisis in a system that no longer plods through checks and balances but instead rushes to European-style referenda.”
Sasse dismissed claims that high-stakes legislation can only be passed without the filibuster, saying that terminating the filibuster results in a “never-ending cascade of doom-peddlers telling Americans our best days are behind us unless we secure 51 immediate votes for their golden legislative ticket.”
“America’s public square needs a recovery,” Sasse concludes. “That depends on regular folks showing up, affirming a ‘one cheer for politics’ ethos, rolling their eyes at jeremiads, laughing at apocalypse pornographers, and gratefully celebrating 250 years and counting. All of these become less likely if we foolishly eliminate the filibuster.”
There has been talk of getting rid of the filibuster so that the Senate GOP could move the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, voting legislation that would impose new ID requirements to vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has repeatedly said there are not enough votes to kill the filibuster, even as President Trump has called for abolishing the filibuster.
“It’s so important that Republicans have to do it” Trump said about ending the filibuster during a “Fox & Friends” interview last Monday. “It’s so insane. Otherwise, we’re going to have a shutdown in September.”
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Ben Sasse Donald Trump John Thune Ron JohnsonCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Senate News
See All
Senate Ossoff: Democratic midterm victories would do more than ‘just restore checks and balances’ by Max Rego 2 hours ago Senate / 2 hours ago 
