Reforming the filibuster without abolishing it

[Indy Texas]

Bipartisan Filibusters

Filibusters cannot be sustained unless they are bipartisan. At least one member from each Senate caucus must vote against cloture.

This would eliminate the possibility of filibustering bills for purely partisan reasons. It would leave open the possibility of filibustering bills where there is a good faith objection for reasons that transcend party lines (ex. if a group of libertarian Republicans and progressive Democrats wanted to filibuster a bill curtailing civil liberties or authorizing military involvement).

Popular Filibusters

This attempts to remedy the population skew of the Senate and ensure that senators elected by a small minority of the population cannot thwart legislation by senators representing the overwhelming majority of the country's population.

Each senator would be allocated one half of their state's population as of the most recent Census. In order for a filibuster to be sustained, the senators voting against cloture would have to cumulatively represent a majority of the US population.