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Republican election victories and the landslide win by President-elect Donald Trump have left U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) backtracking on a key issue.

The progressive “Squad” member essentially admitted her previous demands to end the filibuster were rooted in partisan politics as she told reporters on Monday that the procedural move that would allow Democrats to ram through their agenda is not desired under a GOP majority.

Jayapal was asked at a press conference with the Congressional Progressive Caucus about the filibuster and using the method that requires 60 votes to end debate to protect her party’s policies in the coming months.

“Look, I think this is where it goes back to before this election, right? If we had had control of the trifecta and got rid of the filibuster to pass minimum wage, to pass paid sick leave, to pass many of these things that are passing abortion access, that are passing on ballot measures that are so popular, those aren’t going to the state legislatures, either, those are going to the ballot, then I think we would have built some trust with the American people,” she said.

“Republicans, don’t forget, already got rid of the filibuster, for taxes,” she said.

“And so I think that I don’t think it’s in opposition at all,” Jayapal continued, as she tried to reconcile her apparent change in view. “I think, obviously, would I be, am I championing getting rid of the filibuster now when the Senate has the trifecta? No, but had we had the trifecta, I would have been because we have to show that government can deliver.”

Jayapal’s website has a page focused on ending the “Jim Crow filibuster” and she has been vocal on social media about her stand.

“The filibuster was originally created *by mistake* in 1806. Every day we don’t abolish it is just as big a mistake,” she wrote in September as Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) pushed back against efforts to eliminate the procedural hurdle.

“I have been consistent on the importance of protecting the 60-vote threshold, which we call the filibuster since I arrived at the United States Senate,” he said in a statement at the time. “This threshold stabilizes our democracy, promotes bipartisan cooperation, and protects our nation from partisan whiplash and dysfunction. I have always said: ‘If you can’t change your mind, you can’t change anything’ and I am hopeful that the Vice President remains open to doing just that.”

Outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema mocked Jayapal’s flip-flop, writing “You don’t say” on X.

The Democrat-turned-Independent senator was censured in 2022 by leading Arizona Democrats over her pro-filibuster vote.

Frieda Powers
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