Congress, the Filibuster, and the Constitution

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2022

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Earlier this month, President Biden voiced support for getting rid of the filibuster, looking to ease the path of voting rights legislation in Congress. But Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema opposed the change. The legislation has been stalled, and debate over the filibuster runs high once again. Joining host Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the history, constitutionality, and calls for reform of the filibuster are two of the nation’s leading experts on congressional power and practices. Josh Chafetz is a professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and Jay Cost is the Gerald R. Ford nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His newest book is James Madison: America's First Politician. The National Constitution Center relies on support from listeners like you to provide nonpartisan constitutional education to Americans of all ages. In honor of the 234th anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, every dollar you give to support the We the People podcast campaign will be doubled with a generous 1:1 match up to a total of $234,000, made possible by the John Templeton Foundation! Visit www.constitutioncenter.org/we-the-people to donate, and thank you for your crucial support. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends in honor of the 234th anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution,
0:06.0	the National Constitution Center has launched an exciting crowd funding campaign.
0:11.0	I'm thrilled to report that right now we have 554 donations from 48 states, the only
0:18.5	states that are yet to join us in the cool embrace of constitutional reason are Oklahoma and Wyoming.
0:28.0	So dear friends, if you were listening in Oklahoma or Wyoming, as I'm sure that some of you are please give a donation of any amount
0:35.6	five dollars or ten dollars or more it is so urgently important that the National
0:40.0	Constitution Center have participation from all 50 states in our glorious
0:45.0	union. And in fact if you are not in Oklahoma or Wyoming or have friends in those
0:50.2	great states please email, call or text them immediately
0:54.2	and encourage them to donate
0:56.3	so that we can reach our goal of participation
0:59.8	from all 50 of the United States of America in the podcast of the National Constitution
1:06.5	Center and remember every dollar is matched so please go to Constitution
1:10.6	Center dot org forward slash We The People,
1:13.6	that's all one word, all lowercase.
1:17.0	Now, on to today's show.
1:19.5	Hello friends, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National
1:26.4	Constitution Center and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of
1:29.9	constitutional debate. The National Constitution Center is a
1:33.2	nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness and
1:38.2	understanding of the Constitution among the American people. Earlier this month, President Biden voiced support for eliminating the filibuster
1:48.0	in an effort to ease the path of voting rights legislation in Congress.
	...

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