After Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have created an independent commission to investigate the January Capitol riot, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, insisted this week that it’s time to end the filibuster. Republicans blocked the bill in question by employing a filibuster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25YphyZIObU Procedural rules that are currently in place in the Senate allow members of the chamber’s minority to launch what’s called a filibuster by refusing to agree to move towards a final vote on a particular piece of legislation. As the rules stand at present, 60 votes in the 100-member chamber are required to move forward on most legislation, allowing the chamber’s minority the chance to halt the process. As Schiff explained it, the filibuster “is an arcane Senate rule requiring 60 votes instead of a simple majority to end debate on a piece of legislation and bring it to a vote.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCs3sRv7_YM Because of the filibuster, despite the fact that 54 Senators voted for moving forward with the riot investigation bill while just 35 Senators voted against it, the measure failed. The filibuster essentially hands veto power over legislation to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), although Americans at large decided on having Democrats — not Republicans — in enough seats to make up the current majority, which is led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I493TSzqyYo Schiff pointedly commented as follows:
‘Simply put, America is at a tipping point. It’s not tenable for the will of the majority of the voters to be continually thwarted by an archaic rule. We need to end the filibuster so we can protect and strengthen our democracy. So we can make progress — and make it lasting. Eliminating the filibuster won’t mean the end of minority views. That’s what our system of checks and balances is for. But a filibuster that has frozen our ability to pass overwhelmingly popular reforms isn’t a healthy check and balance – It’s a roadblock to progress.’
Schiff also noted that ending the filibuster would mean that Democrats can “protect our democracy, and… make progress on the urgent issues Americans elected us to address.” Check out his full thread below: 
