Senator Kyrsten Sinema defends filibuster ahead of key vote on voting rights bill

Washington — Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona on Monday defended the filibuster as the Senate prepares to take a procedural vote on a sweeping voting rights bill, saying the rule "compels moderation" and helps shield the country from policy swings or reversals driven by changing party control.

"Instability, partisanship and tribalism continue to infect our politics," Sinema wrote in an op-ed published by the Washington Post. "The solution, however, is not to continue weakening our democracy's guardrails. If we eliminate the Senate's 60-vote threshold, we will lose much more than we gain." Some Senate Democrats have been pushing to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes to advance a bill in the Senate, to allow measures to pass with a simple majority. Because Democrats only hold 50 seats in the upper chamber, votes from 10 GOP senators are needed to overcome a filibuster.