Sen. Hickenlooper Says ‘Time To Change The Filibuster' To Protect Voting Rights

By Chase Woodruff, Colorado Newsline

December 15, 2021

Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado on Wednesday announced his support for “changes” to the filibuster, as Senate Democrats move to take up voting rights legislation in the final weeks of the year.

“We’ve been here almost a year, and we’ve seen enough: It’s time to change the filibuster to protect voting rights,” Hickenlooper said in a statement released by his office. “Protecting the right to vote shouldn’t be a partisan issue, and we set out to work across the aisle. But three separate voting rights bills have failed in the Senate this year.”

Hickenlooper’s announcement came as Senate Democrats signaled they would postpone consideration of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” budget bill until next year, and instead move forward with legislation to protect voting rights.

Democrats have raised the alarm over moves by Republican state governments across the country to disenfranchise voters and seize control of electoral processes, an effort spurred by a wave of baseless conspiracy theories holding that widespread fraud denied former President Donald Trump victory in the 2020 election. But Democratic-sponsored legislation to safeguard voting rights has been repeatedly blocked by Republican use of the filibuster, a maneuver that requires a 60-vote supermajority to overcome.

Hickenlooper’s statement did not specify what kind of filibuster changes he supports. Many Democrats have called for it to be eliminated, while others have floated a return to a traditional “talking filibuster” that requires senators in the minority to hold the floor for a continuous period, rather than simply being invoked automatically.

But his statement did make reference to a recent deal struck by party leaders in the Senate that allowed a measure to raise the debt ceiling to pass with a bare majority.

“Voter disenfranchisement threatens our entire democracy,” Hickenlooper said. “If we can change the process on the debt ceiling, then surely we can do the same to protect our democracy.”

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat and Colorado’s senior senator, hasn’t explicitly endorsed eliminating or changing the filibuster, though he has signaled an openness to reform. Bennet previously expressed regret for supporting changes to the filibuster for judicial nominations in 2013, though he has repeatedly denounced Republican “abuse” of the maneuver this year, and told an interviewer in September that “51 senators ought to be able to move this country forward.”

Any changes to the rules surrounding the filibuster would need the support of all 50 Democratic senators. Within minutes of Hickenlooper’s announcement on Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona reiterated her opposition to such changes, according to Politico.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5:36 p.m. Dec. 15, 2021 to include additional comments on filibuster reform from Sen. Michael Bennet.

Democracy functions only when people have access to reliable information about government and society. Colorado Newsline’s mission is to be a trusted source of such information. Newsline is nonprofit, nonpartisan and independent, and it provides fair and accurate reporting on politics, policy and other stories of interest to Colorado readers