Amid Power-Sharing Negotiations with Schumer, McConnell Pushes for Filibuster Protections

In an email obtained by National Review, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell wrote to Senate GOP colleagues on Monday night that he’s looking to the 2001 agreement between Trent Lott and Tom Daschle as a model for how a 50–50 Senate should share power, but McConnell is also pushing for protections for the legislative filibuster:

We also need to enter into a power sharing agreement with the Democrats. While I am guided in this effort by the Lott-Daschle agreement, I believe we need to also address the threats to the legislative filibuster. As you know, we all resisted the direct calls of President Trump to destroy the Senate by eliminating the legislative filibuster when we controlled the House the Senate and the White House.

I believe the unique rules of the Senate which forces compromise between the parties is needed now more than ever. Having an equally divided Senate means that we have to work together to get anything done and the spirit of true bipartisan compromise is possible only when each side realizes they must come to the table together. Our times demand nothing less.

I believe the time is ripe to address this issue head on before the passions of one particular issue or another arise. We will need unity and the support of each of you as this may take time to work through. A delay in reaching an agreement could delay the final determination of committee assignments but it is important to maintain the status quo on the legislative filibuster.

McConnell and Schumer met privately on Tuesday afternoon. “Schumer declined to comment on the future of the legislative filibuster,” Politico reports. A Schumer spokesman told the Huffington Post, “On an organizing resolution, Leader Schumer expressed that the fairest, most reasonable and easiest path forward is to adopt the 2001 bipartisan agreement without extraneous changes from either side.”