After a New Mexico Democrat senator called for abolishing the legislative filibuster on Thursday night, he was accused of hypocrisy since he had reportedly used the filibuster hundreds of times in the past to achieve his aims.
New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich tweeted:
The filibuster should be abolished or, at the very least, reformed to force senators to physically hold the floor to extend debate. Too often the filibuster has been used to block our country’s continued march toward equality. We must change this. Georgia legislators are attempting to take Sunday voting away. They want to prevent Black voters from participating in our elections. Let’s call this what it is: A racist attempt to steal future elections.
We have the legislation to stop this. The For the People Act would restore voting rights to Americans targeted by efforts like those in Georgia. We can’t let the filibuster continue to shield structural racism in our country. I cannot support the continued abuse of the filibuster in the United States Senate.
Charles W. Cooke of National Review blasted, “You’re a fraud. You’ve used it nearly 350 times since 2014, while the GOP hasn’t used it once; has declined to abolish it when in the majority; and has published a letter supporting it that, just four years ago, you signed.”
You’re a fraud. You’ve used it nearly 350 times since 2014, while the GOP hasn’t used it once; has declined to abolish it when in the majority; and has published a letter supporting it that, just four years ago, you signed. https://t.co/chh6mpKa1q
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) March 19, 2021
The letter Heinrich and 60 other senators from both parties signed in April 2017 to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer read:
We are writing you to support our efforts to preserve existing rules, practices, and traditions as they pertain to the rights of Members to engage in extended debate on legislation before the United States Senate. Senators have expressed a variety of opinions about the appropriateness of limiting debate when we are considering judicial and executive branch nominations. Regardless of our past disagreements on that issue, we are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor.
We are mindful of the unique role the Senate plays in the legislative process, and we are steadfastly committed to ensuring that this great American institution continues to serve as the world’s greatest deliberative body. Therefore, we are asking you to join us in opposing any effort to curtail the existing rights and prerogatives of Senators to engage in full. Robust, and extended debate as we consider legislation before this body in the future.
The so-called “For the People Act” that Heinrich champions, also known as H.R. 1, was slammed by Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee, who wrote:
The true purpose of H.R. 1 — better characterized as the “Illegal Voting Act” — is not to increase legal voting. It’s to increase illegal voting and crack down on criticism of the government. It’s an Alien and Sedition Act for the 21st century: partisan, unconstitutional and borderline tyrannical.
The bill would overturn effective, organically developed voting laws in all 50 states and replace them with mandates written behind closed doors by Democratic activists and politicians. It would impose on the entire country same-day and automatic voter registration, extended early voting, legalized voting for convicted felons; institute a prohibition against prosecuting illegal immigrant voters who had been automatically registered; and ban badly needed voter ID requirements. Oh, and it makes dissent from these diktats federal crimes.
At the beginning of March, Heinrich stated he supported statehood for Puerto Rico, saying, “It’s time to make sure all of those Americans in Puerto Rico have the same representation, the same ability to fight for what is better and what is best in Washington, D.C., as all of us in other states, enjoy.”