Ex-Sen. Ben Sasse defends Senate filibuster, saying US needs it

Former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Sunday defended the filibuster, saying the U.S. needs it in the Senate.

Sasse wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the filibuster “provides a bulwark against consolidated power,” a tradition preserved as “a prerequisite for national recovery and endurance.”

The filibuster is not a part of the Constitution, but as Congress deliberates over passing legislation that will become law, it gives the public time to “come aboard — or to object angrily,” he wrote.

“While the Senate’s filibuster rule isn’t in the text of the most glorious political document ever written, it plays a critical role in limiting and dividing power. Via procedural requirements to secure a supermajority of 60 votes before legislation can be passed, the filibuster safeguards the spirit of the Constitution’s anti-consolidation objective and prevents the misery of never-ending Flight 93 elections,” Sasse writes, referring to the name of one of the flights hijacked during the Sept. 11, 2001,........

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