House Democratic caucus leaders have apparently decided that subtlety is overrated. According to USA Journal, the chairs of the progressive, black, and Hispanic caucuses have published an actual resolution laying out their plans should they retake Congress in November: eliminate the Senate filibuster on day one, pack the Supreme Court with enough new justices to flip the majority, and add new states to lock in a structural advantage. They signed their names to it and everything. Bold strategy, putting your entire playbook on a billboard.
President Trump responded on Truth Social with characteristic restraint (just kidding): "They do this, and the Republican Party is DEAD." He followed up on July 4th by calling on Republicans to kill the filibuster themselves right now and pass the SAVE America Act. In his words: "If we terminate the filibuster and immediately vote for the SAVE America Act, then we will not lose an election for 100 years. The communist party is made up of illegal immigrants, criminals, and everybody that doesn't want to work."
The three-step plan reads like a political science textbook chapter titled "How to Build a One-Party System Without Technically Calling It That." Step one is killing the filibuster, which removes the 60-vote threshold and lets anything pass with a simple majority. Step two is court packing, adding four or five new Supreme Court justices so the court stops being the thing that blocks your agenda and starts being the thing that rubber stamps it. Step three is statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., which would add four presumably Democratic Senate seats to the mix.
Senator Chris Murphy helpfully confirmed the filibuster part last week when he admitted on a podcast that his party views the rule as an obstacle to their "core economic ideas" and fully intends to eliminate or reform it the moment they are back in power. He tried to wrap it in moderate language, but the resolution his colleagues published kind of blew that cover.
Meanwhile, Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, the presidency, and the House. They have every tool available to act. And yet Senate Minority Leader emeritus Mitch McConnell and Senator Lisa Murkowski are reportedly working to block the SAVE America Act, a bill requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote. They would rather protect a procedural rule that the opposing party has publicly promised to torch the moment they get the chance. That is like guarding the front door while your neighbor announces on a megaphone that he is coming in through the back window.
The Democrats are not being coy about any of this. They published their intentions, signed their names, and are banking on the idea that Republicans are too divided and too attached to institutional norms to do anything about it. The resolution is not a leak. It is not a rumor. It is a document with signatures on it.
Republicans currently have unified government and a president begging them to use it. Whether they actually do something with that before November remains the most suspenseful question in American politics, which is really saying something given the competition.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
