Thune Rips Jayapal For Filibuster Hypocrisy

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), who was recently elected as the next Republican Senate leader, slammed Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) this week for admitting that she would get rid of the filibuster if Democrats controlled the White House and Congress but not if Republicans had control.

“Am I championing getting rid of the filibuster now when the Senate has the trifecta? No,” said Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, during a press conference on Monday.

“But had we had the trifecta, I would have been, because we have to show that government can deliver,” Jayapal added.

Thune noted in a speech on the Senate floor that Jayapal said the quiet part out loud: “In other words, one rule for Democrats, and one rule for everybody else. Democrats should be able to do whatever they want; Republicans, not so much.”

He said that the filibuster must be preserved because it “encourages compromise and helps ensure that all Americans, not just those whose party is in the majority, have a voice in legislation.”

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last few years, it’s that Democrats firmly believe that the only legitimate government is a Democrat government,” he said.

Thune highlighted how Democrats have a campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the Supreme Court because they do not like the rulings from the conservative justices.

“This court sometimes issues decisions Democrats don’t like, and therefore, in their view, the court is somehow illegitimate,” he said, later adding: “Democrats’ apparent belief that it’s the Democrat Party and the Democrat Party only that should be calling the shots in Washington betrays some of that same disdain for voters.”

He said that the filibuster would be safe under Republican governance.

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