Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., seemed to give conflicting answers about what to do about the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster rule during a wide-ranging Senate Democratic primary debate Thursday.
“The filibuster must go so that we can codify health care,” Stevens said, while adding: “We should use the filibuster to not allow the big ugly bill to pass that increased our debt.”
It was a reference to President Donald Trump’s so-called big, beautiful bill that extended his 2017 tax cuts. Republicans passed it on a party-line basis last year without Democrats because certain tax and spending bills are exempt from the 60-vote rule.
Democrats have internally clashed over whether to abolish or preserve the filibuster, with proponents of nixing it winning the battle in recent years. Both of Stevens’ opponents in the primary for Michigan’s Senate seat, a must-win for Democrats, said during Thursday’s debate that they would eliminate it.
Moderator Stephen Henderson asked Stevens to clarify whether she’s calling to get rid of the filibuster or to utilize it.
“I said I want to remove the filibuster,” Stevens said.
He responded, “Right, but then you just said you should filibuster what’s going on with the deficit, right?”
Stevens responded: “I’m saying that I want to change the rules, of which I’ve been a part of. I’ve voted for rules packages on behalf of the people of Michigan. I believe — Stephen, what I said is we should remove the filibuster so Democrats could have voted down the legislation, the tax bill. That’s what I was saying. Democrats should have been able to vote down the tax bill.”
Stevens’ answer mischaracterizes the filibuster rule, which was in place last year when Republicans passed the tax law. Democrats were unable to stop it because it was exempt from the 60-vote threshold under the budget “reconciliation” process.
The other part of her answer suggested that eliminating the filibuster would have empowered Democrats to block the tax bill. That is not the case — nixing the filibuster would simply mean that a Senate majority can pass any bill they want with 51 votes and not need bipartisan support.
Stevens’ responses drew criticism. Former Senate Democratic aide Tré Easton tweeted, “I feel like table stakes for being a senator should be at least knowing how one of the more famous Senate rules actually works.”
GOP operative and former Senate aide Matt Whitlock chimed in, “Brutal moment. You can’t serve in the Senate if you don’t know what the filibuster even is.” And National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Bernadette Breslin said Stevens’ “filibuster word salad wasn’t some innocent gaffe; it exposed her inability to articulate a basic talking point” and her “ignorance” of the Senate.
Asked to clarify, Stevens spokesperson Caitlin Legacki said, “Haley has been very consistent: She supports eliminating the filibuster to do what’s right for Michigan families, including to codify abortion rights and raise the minimum wage. She believes the filibuster led to Republicans’ use of the reconciliation process that resulted in devastating cuts to Michiganders’ health care so they could offset tax cuts for billionaires.”
During the debate at the Mackinac Policy Conference, Stevens’ opponent Abdul El-Sayed, who previously ran for governor in 2018, argued that the filibuster shields senators from accountability to their voters.
“It has become the place where all legislation goes to die, and it allows senators who don’t want to take hard votes to hide behind the filibuster of just one senator, usually in a safe seat,” he said. “I believe we have to abolish the filibuster.”
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who is also running in the Democratic primary, called for getting rid of the 60-vote rule as well, saying that if Republicans want to use a simple-majority vote to pass “bad” bills, they will suffer the consequences.
“We have to get rid of the filibuster,” she said. “We’re at a place where too often Democrats are protecting Republicans from their own bad decisions.”
The Democratic primary is Aug. 4. Surveys have shown a competitive three-way battle for the nomination, with the winner likely to take on Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November. It’s an open seat because incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., is retiring.
