Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said Monday on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” that the 60-vote filibuster rule in the Senate was “a tool of obstruction” after he officially launched a bid for Kyrsten Sinema’s (I-AZ) Senate seat.
Host Lawrence O’Donnell asked, “Let’s go to one of the biggest procedural questions in the Senate that Senator Sinema has been pretty outspoken on. She really worships the 60-vote rule in the Senate. Every time the 60-vote threshold is imposed, she is completely in favor of it. Most Democrats, almost all of the Democrats, want to get rid of it. They want the Senate to run as a majority-run institution — 51 votes, you win. What is your position on that?”
Gallego said, “My position is that filibuster has to get reformed. It’s not a tool of compromise. It’s a tool of obstruction.”
He continued, “Look what happened after Sandy Hook. Dozens of children are killed, and there is no compromise. There is no gun legislation that passes. We’ve been trying to work for years and years to deal with immigration reform. We’ve passed bills out of the House that died in the Senate. At the end of the day, this is really used to stop real movement and actual laws that are going to help people. She talked about the filibuster as if it is some sort of great cause. When she was in Davos high-fiving Joe Manchin about killing the Voting Rights Act, she did it on MLK weekend. And it’s the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, that is someone she claims was her mentor and her best friend. So, she’s lost absolute trust with everybody in Arizona.”
Gallego added, “And I think, in general, I think she’s going to have problems winning any races because, you know, it’s not about the filibuster. It’s not about any particular bills. The fact that she just doesn’t communicate and doesn’t really connect anymore with the people of Arizona.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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