There have been talks of potentially reforming or abolishing the filibuster. In the United States Senate, sixty votes are needed to end debate on a bill. Since getting sixty votes for any piece of legislation is very difficult, the filibuster allows the minority party to block popular bills supported by the majority of the Senate. The Senate is composed of fifty Democrats and fifty Republicans, even though Democrats in the Senate represent forty million more Americans than their Republican colleagues. Nevertheless, Democrats have the majority because Vice President Harris acts as a tiebreaker. However, the filibuster allows Mitch McConnell and the Republicans to block nearly every bill that the Democrats propose. The filibuster must be eliminated or reformed if Democrats want to pass the:

• For the People Act: This bill will protect voting rights for everyone across the country. Republican state legislatures have introduced bills that will suppress the vote in states like Georgia, Arizona, and others. The House has already passed this bill and passing this bill in the Senate would counter the moves made in states that have suppressed the vote. This bill will not only expand early voting, but will also reduce gerrymandering. 
• Equality Act of 2021: This bill will prohibit discrimination against sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation in public accommodation, housing, and education. The House has already passed this bill but the filibuster must be changed for it to pass the Senate.
• Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 and Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021: These bills would expand background checks for all gun sales and transfers in the United States and close the “Charleston Loophole,” which allows a gun sale to happen without a background check. After the recent shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, public support for these bills has increased. According to PolitiFact, 90 percent of Americans support background checks. The House passed these bills, and passing these bills in the Senate as well would mean a safer country.
• George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021: This bill will make it easier for police officers to be held accountable for their actions. This bill ends qualified immunity and forbids racial and religious profiling. Passing this bill in the Senate means the country is one step closer to achieving racial justice. Racial equity is a reality if the Senate passes this bill. 

A majority of Americans support the bills mentioned above, including a majority of Republican voters. In addition to these bills, there are many other bills that will not pass unless the filibuster is changed. If Democrats want to pass President Biden’s agenda, they need to abolish the filibuster, or at least reform the filibuster and restore a talking filibuster. A talking filibuster forces the opposing party to keep talking. Essentially, if a majority of senators vote to end the debate, debate will continue until no one is left talking. Once the opposing party stops talking, the final vote can happen and a simple majority of senators can pass the bill.  

It is very unlikely that ten Republicans are going to vote with Democrats on every single bill. For example, zero Republicans in the House voted in favor of the For the People Act. If that trend continues into the Senate, it will be impossible for the bill to pass with the current filibuster in place. 

The filibuster was rarely used during the early days of Congress and its use skyrocketed during President Obama’s presidency. Mitch McConnell, despite being the minority leader, was able to block many of Obama’s policies. He normalized using the filibuster to the point where popular policies are not able to become law because of the filibuster. 

Abolishing the filibuster would mean only a simple majority of fifty-one votes are needed for the bill to pass (assuming the bill itself doesn’t get filibustered). However, there are a few hesitant Democrats, such as Joe Manchin, who refuse to get rid of the filibuster completely. Having said that, Manchin does support reforming the filibuster and bringing back the talking filibuster. President Biden also supports changing the filibuster to a talking filibuster. Democrats must change the filibuster rules if they want to pass popular policies.