Wednesday’s inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized a theme that should echo beyond the confines of the nation’s Capitol: unity. Without it, without some cohesion in Congress — and we’ll add the Illinois General Assembly — voters will find themselves back to peak frustration over fraught politics.
That would be a mistake. After four years of political polarization, voters signaled on Nov. 3 they want their elected officials to find some semblance of cooperation, to shift away from the strident rhetoric that fuels cable news shows but freezes reasonable progress toward fixing problems.
Biden spoke of unity sounding “to some like a foolish fantasy these days.” But he emphasized the need for it anyway. He’s right. As we have said: We expect conservatives and those who supported Donald Trump to disagree with many of the new administration’s positions. But it still will be a relief to have a president willing to listen to the other side. Someone who understands the need for restrained language and tempered animosity.
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Editorials reflect the views of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board. The board operates independently of the newsroom.
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In Washington, striving for unity begins in the U.S. Senate where a precarious 50-50 party split threatens to prolong the gridlock that has frozen any movement toward fixing this nation’s problems. Sen. Dick Durbin, while in the minority party, chastised Majority Leader Mitch McConnell repeatedly for “breaking” the Senate and its deliberative functions. Gridlock the past two years in particular rendered the body almost irrelevant on matters of day-to-day policy and priorities.
Now that the Democrats hold the gavel, can they fix what is broken? Are they willing to? If they want to get ambitious measures enacted, they need to be willing to work with Republicans to forge compromises that can win support on both sides of the aisle.
With an even split and an impending impeachment trial of Donald Trump on the horizon, the unity Biden urged could, in fact, start to resemble “foolish fantasy” rather quickly. We hope not. As now-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell negotiate Senate rules, including the future of the filibuster, both should keep the will of the voters in mind, not the interests of their parties.
We have long advised against eliminating the filibuster, which gives the minority party a lever to make itself relevant on major issues that come before the Senate. Removing it would evaporate a valuable check on the power of tomorrow’s majority as well as today’s, we wrote in 2005 when Republicans held the majority and threatened to neutralize the Democrats.
Then when Senate Democrats in 2013 rammed through a measure to eliminate filibusters of most judicial and executive branch nominees, we called it a mistake. Frustration toward the filibuster by the party out of power is understandable. Both sides have showcased their parade of hypocrites on the issue. But the filibuster should stay; the abuse of it needs to go.
The landscape in Washington isn’t significantly different from Illinois where a new House speaker, Emanuel “Chris” Welch, is considering loosening the protocols that exacerbate one-party rule. While there’s no filibuster here for the minority party to employ, there is a long list of House rules that keep the out-of-power party in the wilderness, by design.
House rules, stiffened under decades of former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s leadership, freeze out Republican voices and hyperextend the influence of the majority party. Welch has indicated he is open to changing those rules and welcoming a more transparent, bipartisan environment.
You know, unity. It comes a lot easier if both sides are allowed a role in legislating. What a refreshing change.
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