Sinema urges Senate to keep filibuster in Friday farewell speech

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) took the opportunity during her last speech on the Senate floor on Friday to urge her colleagues to keep the filibuster rather than do away with it, as some on both sides of the aisle have advocated.

"One-party rule is not democracy, that's autocracy. That's not the system our forefathers envisioned, and it's not what our country deserves. The beauty of America is in the push and the pull. Our democracy ensures that no one person, no one party, has too much control," Sinema said.

"Surely I am not the only one to see the absurdity in all of this," Sinema continued. "The political winds have now shifted, and yet the filibuster ensures … that the tyranny of the majority does not overrule the rights of the minority, regardless of who sits in the seat of power."

As it currently exists, the filibuster requires 60 votes for legislation to get a final vote once it is out of committee.

The judicial filibuster, which required 60 votes to confirm nominees to federal judgeships, was ended in 2013 by Democrat Sen. Harry Reid (NV). The filibuster for Supreme Court nominees was ended in 2020 by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY).

Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) were the two main holdouts in a push by Democrats to end the filibuster so they could ram through legislation with only 51 votes, and both are retiring. The Senate has flipped Republican, however, and will not be ending the filibuster any time soon.