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Most Democrats, now looking forward to a Biden presidency and a narrow majority in the next Senate, realize that Republicans can block virtually all Democratic legislation by using the filibuster, and they therefore favor its abolition.

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Many activists will not tolerate a Democratic-controlled Senate that allows Republicans to block civil-rights legislation next year.

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"We can't sit around for 100 years while the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful and everyone else falls further and further behind."

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Progressive organizing was indeed crucial to changing the filibuster, with Senators like Merkley and Udall working the inside game while the outside groups got the public riled up. Many Democratic senators—including Reid—didn’t want to do rules reform back in 2009 when the GOP began its unprecedented obstruction, and it took a lot of convincing.

McConnell has so exaggerated the filibuster power that it has effectively allowed him to thwart not just Senate votes but the operations of federal agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board. He and his allies have gone so far as to block the confirmation of nominees for cabinet posts, such as Department of Labor nominee Tom Perez.