And not because of the fears of what an unrestrained Republican Senate would do, but because of fears that their own excuses for inaction and their favorite tool of responsibility avoidance would evaporate.This was all about the filibuster.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) November 10, 2025
I have watched the Senate for years, and you really can't be too cynical about their reasons for doing what they do. It isn't that every senator starts out like that, but the institutional culture is extremely strong and deviators are punished. They haze uppity freshmen - including regularly leaking bullshit to journalists who take the word of senior senators over those freshmen - until they get in line.
It's basically a cult. Playing along is the easy way and it's definitely the only way to get a committee chair by the time you are 74.