Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Another possible reason for the 8 caving: to preserve the filibuster
Since I'm not American, I can't say how credible this is, but Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money is a good commentator, and Yglesias, while he can be a prick, can make important points - hadn't seen it said here, so putting it in a thread for discussion:
I agree with Matt that this the critical to understanding what the pro-capitulation Dem senators were thinking. (And given that nobody facing re-election in 2026 voted for Trump here, it’s clear support within the caucus was greater than the number of votes cast, and the most plausible inference is that Schumer also supported it.)
"The subtext of this whole fight is the filibuster.
Dems were winning the blame game and could have held out indefinitely, but they weren’t going to win adequate policy concessions from Trump — eventually Rs would’ve been forced to nuke.
Fine by me, but many Senators disagree.
I think the decision to cave is dumb, but people should understand what was really in play and not take every politician’s outraged statement too seriously or literally."
It makes perfect sense that Republicans were desperate to not have to use the nuclear option here — they don’t want to take full responsibility for policies most people hate, they don’t care about democratic values, and this particular anti-democratic rule favors reactionary interests in the long run. For Democrats to cave to save the filibuster, conversely, is just a lose-lose-lose proposition.
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/11/fear-of-a-less-undemocratic-senate
Link to tweet
"The subtext of this whole fight is the filibuster.
Dems were winning the blame game and could have held out indefinitely, but they weren’t going to win adequate policy concessions from Trump — eventually Rs would’ve been forced to nuke.
Fine by me, but many Senators disagree.
I think the decision to cave is dumb, but people should understand what was really in play and not take every politician’s outraged statement too seriously or literally."
It makes perfect sense that Republicans were desperate to not have to use the nuclear option here — they don’t want to take full responsibility for policies most people hate, they don’t care about democratic values, and this particular anti-democratic rule favors reactionary interests in the long run. For Democrats to cave to save the filibuster, conversely, is just a lose-lose-lose proposition.
https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/11/fear-of-a-less-undemocratic-senate
I certainly can't see that SNAP was a sufficient reason, since the courts were firmly on the "must be paid, by law" side. And the flight cancellations would be a pathetic reason to give in - Republicans were getting the blame, and Duffy announced the cancellations, so they'd get it for those too.
17 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Then I guess there will be no more talk about ending the filibuster. No talk of needing to end it to cancel mail in ballots. No talk of ending it to try and pass voter ID, no talk to end it to keep fascist CRs passing with no obstruction. Sure, this was about the filibuster. Whatever helps Matthew Yglesias sleep at night.
Millions of Americans will lose affordable healthcare. But at least repukes will stop trying to hijack the government. 
