Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman Calls to Abolish Filibuster to Pass Gun Control

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman during a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol
AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Pennsylvania Senate Democrat candidate John Fetterman on Tuesday called on Senate Democrats to abolish the filibuster to pass “common-sense” gun control.

Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, said, “Democrats in the Senate need to scrap the filibuster and immediately pass common-sense reform like universal background checks for all gun sales and a ban on military-grade assault weapons and high capacity magazines.”

Calls to abolish the legislative filibuster in the Senate have served as a controversial issue, considering that  the Senate Democrat conference remains split on the issue.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tried to nuke the filibuster in late January to pass two “voter bills.” The motion to overrule the legislative filibuster failed after Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) opposed the measure.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the day was “in all likelihood is the most important day in the history of the Senate as an institution.”

Sinema said in her statement after the vote that she believed eliminating the filibuster would allow for too many “radical” reversals of federal policy, which would undermine confidence in the government:

Tonight, I voted again to support legislation safeguarding and expanding Americans’ access to the ballot box and strengthening faith in our elections. I also maintained my longstanding opposition to separate actions that would deepen our divisions and risk repeated radical reversals in federal policy, cementing uncertainty and further eroding confidence in our government. Tonight’s votes must not be the end of our work to protect our democracy. That goal requires all Americans everywhere to unite around sustained strategies in support of free, fair, and open elections in which every vote is fairly counted. These challenges cannot be solved by one party or Washington alone.

 Tonight also should not be the end of our efforts to make the Senate work better. Senators of both parties have offered ideas — including some that would earn my support — to make this body more productive, more deliberative, and more responsive to Americans’ needs.

Mehmet Oz, the Pennsylvania Senate Republican candidate aiming to replace the retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), said that progressives such as “AOC and Elizabeth Warren want John Fetterman to join their squad in DC. Another rubber stamp for their reckless policies that got us into this inflation crisis.”

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.

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