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New Fix Our Senate Report Examines the Filibuster's History as a Racist Tool to Obstruct Voting Rights
Report details how the filibuster has blocked progress on voting rights, civil rights, and democracy reform."No dispute among historians"—report disproves Senator McConnell’s brazen false claims of "no racial history."
WASHINGTON
A new report from Fix Our Senate details the "long and shameful history of segregationists and racists using the filibuster to block necessary progress on voting rights and democratizing our democracy." The comprehensive examination breaks down how the filibuster was used to block equal treatment under the law - specifically on voting rights, civil rights, and democracy reform - and how that use continues today. The report release comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing today, "Jim Crow 2021: The Latest Assault on the Right to Vote," and as Senator Mitch McConnell makes clear his intention to use the filibuster to block S.1, the "For The People Act."
Senator McConnell recently falsely claimed that the filibuster has "no racial history at all" and "there's no dispute among historians about that." Yet as the report details, throughout history racists and segregationists have used the filibuster to undermine bills that would combat voter suppression and protect civil rights.
The report focused on the filibuster's origins; its usage as a tool to block voting rights and democracy reforms; and the recognition that if we don't eliminate the filibuster, it will effectively provide Senator McConnell veto power over efforts to strengthen our democracy. Notable excerpts from the report include:
"Much of the legislation passed during the Civil Rights Movement that is now considered foundational equal rights law was initially met with stark opposition and faced numerous filibusters from senators who wanted to postpone or prevent that progress. Since then, the filibuster has been used to block voting rights in a slightly more discreet manner, thwarting bills that would abolish the Electoral College and strengthen campaign finance laws - both of which would make our democracy more representative by redistributing power and influence away from the wealthy and toward historically underrepresented groups."
"The filibuster - the legacy of a 19th century drafting error - is a racist tool of obstruction that impedes national progress, especially in the realm of democracy reform and voting rights. It enables the will of the minority to be prioritized over the passage of legislation to help the American people."
"The filibuster is not just a relic of our nation's racist past - it is also a present-day obstacle that will continue to block progress within the realms of democracy reform, voting rights, and many other areas. If we don't eliminate the filibuster, we are giving Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans the ability to veto any and all attempts to strengthen our democracy and voting protections - reforms which were promised to voters when we delivered the Senate and the presidency."
Fix Our Senate spokesperson Eli Zupnick was quoted as saying:
"Despite Senator McConnell's false claims, the historical record is clear: there is a long and shameful history of segregationists and racists using the filibuster to block overdue progress on civil rights, voting rights and other efforts to build a more inclusive democracy. Senators can protect the filibuster, which President Obama called a 'Jim Crow relic,' or they can protect our democracy and the right to vote. They cannot do both."
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ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Stop Tennessee From 'Executing a Potentially Innocent Man'
"The court must stand firmly on the side of truth, fairness, and the basic principle that we should not take a life while serious questions of innocence remain unanswered."
May 20, 2026
The ACLU on Wednesday urged the US Supreme Court to intervene and block the state of Tennessee from executing a man who could be exonerated by DNA evidence.
In its plea to the court, the ACLU said that Tennessee is "sitting on unidentified DNA and fingerprint evidence" that could prove the innocence of Tony Carruthers, who has been on death row for three decades after being convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1996.
The ACLU has repeatedly asked for Carruthers' execution, which is scheduled for Thursday, to be postponed so that investigators can take between two and three weeks to examine potentially exculpatory forensic evidence.
Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, legal director of the ACLU of Tennessee, said the state had a duty to ensure that it had convicted the right man, and he pointed to troubling aspects of the case that should give courts pause before signing off on his execution.
“Mr. Carruthers was forced to represent himself at trial, and now faces death based on flimsy circumstantial evidence and unreliable witnesses," Cameron-Vaughn said. "Forensic evidence the state refuses to test could change everything. The Supreme Court must act now to stop Tennessee from taking an irreversible step while so many critical questions remain unanswered.”
Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel at the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, argued that the Supreme Court is "the final safeguard between Tennessee and this irreversible injustice" that would come from executing someone for a crime they may not have committed.
"We are only hours away from the state of Tennessee executing a potentially innocent man while they are sitting on evidence that could prove who really committed this crime," DeLiberato said. "The court must stand firmly on the side of truth, fairness, and the basic principle that we should not take a life while serious questions of innocence remain unanswered and while readily available forensic testing could answer those very questions."
Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday said he would not intervene to stop Carruthers' execution, even after local faith leaders and past exonerees delivered a petition signed by more than 130,000 Americans asking him to reconsider.
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Trump Demands Senate Fire Parliamentarian as GOP Drops $1 Billion for Ballroom From Bill
The president's tirade—which even the Senate majority leader called "concerning"—came as the GOP decided to exclude the funding from the package amid opposition from both Republican and Democratic senators.
May 20, 2026
As President Donald Trump on Wednesday publicly called for firing the Senate parliamentarian because she ruled against a GOP plan to include $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for the White House ballroom in the next budget reconciliation package, an upper chamber Republican confirmed that the proposal has been dropped from the bill.
"Shockingly, Republicans have kept the very important position of 'Parliamentarian' in the hands of a woman, Elizabeth MacDonough, who was appointed, long ago, by Barack Hussein Obama and a vicious Lunatic known as Senator Harry Reid, who ran the Senate for the Dumocrats with an 'iron fist,'" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats—So why has she not been replaced? There are many fair people who would be qualified for that vital job," the president continued. "The Republicans play a very soft game compared to the Dumocrats. It is their single biggest disadvantage in politics. The Dumocrats cheat, lie, and steal, especially when it comes to Votes in Elections, but stick together, whereas the Republicans allow the Elizabeth MacDonoughs of the World to stay in power, and brutalize us. We need THE SAVE AMERICA ACT passed, and NOW—And, likewise, kill the Filibuster, which would give us everything! If we don’t pass at least one of these two provisions quickly, you will never see another Republican President again."
"The Dumocrats will end up with 2 additional States, DC and Puerto Rico, and all that entails, including 4 Senators, many Congressmen, and many additional Electoral Votes, and they will also get their dream of a packed United States Supreme Court with their most favorite number—21 Justices," he added. "The Dumocrats will eliminate the Filibuster on the First Day that they get an opportunity to do so. The Republicans aren't doing it because they say the Dumocrats will never do it, but the Republicans are WRONG. Get smart and tough Republicans, or you'll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!"
While former President Barack Obama was in office when MacDonough was appointed to her current role in 2012, that decision was made by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). She has angered both parties with her decisions over the years.
Trump's post followed reporting early this week that the president was pressuring US Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to fire MacDonough for her weekend ruling. The Hill reported that when asked about the post on Wednesday, Thune said that "I didn't read it, so I need to look at it."
"Obviously, it's concerning when anybody gets targeted like that. But it's, I guess, his opinion," the Senate majority leader said. "We'll make sure everybody's got security around here."
The proposed $1 billion in taxpayer funding would go toward security-related enhancements to the ballroom project, which has already involved tearing down the East Wing of the White House and former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy's Rose Garden. Standing outside the construction site trying to promote the project on Tuesday, Trump bragged about a planned "drone empire" on the roof.
As Common Dreams exclusively reported earlier Wednesday, 50 state legislators condemned the GOP's attempt to spend $1 billion in taxpayer money on the project in a letter to the president. They called on him "to reject this $1 billion boondoggle and instead direct those resources toward the affordability crisis your policies have created."
Thune signaled Wednesday that GOP lacked the support needed to get the ballroom funding through, telling reporters that "there may be some issues related to the parliamentarian, but most of the issues we have here are votes. The things we're dealing with here is vote count."
He suggested that firing MacDonough "would create even more vote issues here if we were to try to do something like that."
Later Wednesday, Politico reported that after a GOP lunch meeting, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said, "We were told that the ballroom money is out" of the proposal, and he would "like to read the text."
As the outlet noted: "Several GOP senators aired public concerns about including any ballroom funding in a bill otherwise dedicated to immigration enforcement. A larger swath of Republicans were privately opposed, with the mood souring further Tuesday amid anger over Trump's decision to endorse Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the upcoming GOP primary runoff in Texas."
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Amid Wave of Working-Class Victories, Poll Shows Platner With Clear Lead Over Collins
"Voters are responding to candidates willing to directly challenge concentrated power, rising costs, political corruption, and the growing disconnect between working people and political establishments in both parties,” said the head of Our Revolution.
May 20, 2026
After a strong night for progressive candidates in Democratic primaries across the country on Tuesday, things are continuing to look up for Maine's presumptive Democratic Senate nominee, Graham Platner, as he seeks to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
A poll out Wednesday from the independent firm Pan Atlantic Research showed the 41-year-old former Marine leading the incumbent senator by a clear margin of 48%-41% in November's general election among likely voters.
It's a three-point jump in Platner's favor since the last Pan Atlantic poll in March, where he led with 44% of the vote to Collins' 40%. According to the New York Times' poll aggregator, it's the seventh straight poll to show Platner with a clear lead.
Wednesday's poll showed Platner having striking success with women and independent voters, where he leads Collins by margins of 19 points and 13 points, respectively.
But crucially, Platner is also tied with Collins among non-college-educated voters, who broke hard for President Donald Trump in 2024, even as former Vice President Kamala Harris ultimately carried the state.
Platner's continued momentum—on a platform built around Medicare for All, tax hikes for billionaires, and an end to reckless and costly overseas military engagements—comes alongside a series of election results that Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of the left-wing advocacy group Our Revolution, said demonstrated that populist economic messaging from working-class candidates can galvanize voters.
“The throughline across many of these races is that voters are responding to candidates willing to directly challenge concentrated power, rising costs, political corruption, and the growing disconnect between working people and political establishments in both parties,” Geevarghese said.
"What’s notable is that this energy is manifesting in very different political terrains—from deep blue urban districts to tougher working-class and red-to-blue areas," he continued. "Whether it’s Bob Brooks speaking to economic frustration in Pennsylvania, Chris Rabb unapologetically confronting establishment politics and endless war, or Ruwa Romman building a grassroots organizing operation in Georgia, these campaigns reflect a growing appetite for candidates rooted in economic populism, movement politics, and multiracial working-class organizing.”
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