John Fetterman Reverses Course, Now Defends the Filibuster

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Monday that he and the entire Democratic Party were “horribly wrong” to campaign on eliminating the Senate filibuster in 2022, reversing one of the central positions of his successful Senate run. Fetterman, who argued four years ago that the 60-vote rule blocked Democrats from delivering results for voters, now says it serves as essential protection for the minority party.

The reversal carries added weight because Democrats currently hold the minority in both the Senate and House, meaning the filibuster now works in their favor rather than against them. It also comes as President Trump continues pressuring Senate Republicans to eliminate the rule entirely, a push Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said does not have enough GOP support to succeed.

What Fetterman Wrote

In the op-ed, titled “Why I changed my mind about the filibuster,” Fetterman wrote that halfway through his first term, he now recognizes how important the filibuster is and the state the country would be in without it. He said he had believed ending the filibuster was necessary to deliver results for working families and had assumed Republicans in the minority would be unlikely to find common ground with Democrats on legislation.

Fetterman also praised former Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who left the Democratic Party and became independents in part over their opposition to eliminating the filibuster. He wrote that history has vindicated them, calling the rule a critical line of defense against a Trump administration operating without procedural checks.

Political Context

Fetterman’s shift is not entirely new: he had already signaled a change of heart in June, saying it was “wrong” for Democrats to have tried eliminating the filibuster during the Biden administration. Monday’s op-ed represents his most detailed public defense of the rule since he entered the Senate in 2023.

The reversal comes as Trump has repeatedly pressured Senate Republicans to scrap the filibuster before Democrats can. In a social media post Monday, Trump wrote that whichever party terminates the filibuster first will be the party that survives and thrives politically. Thune responded that Republicans are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster, saying Trump administration officials met with roughly 20 GOP senators earlier this year to make the case, and 15 of them said they would oppose the move.

Background

Fetterman campaigned in 2022 on eliminating the filibuster to help pass Democratic priorities under then-President Joe Biden, including a broad voting-rights bill. That effort was ultimately unsuccessful, and Democrats did not eliminate the rule during Biden’s term. Since arriving in the Senate, Fetterman has periodically broken with more progressive members of his party on other issues, including Israel policy and immigration enforcement.

What’s Next

Trump’s continued pressure on Senate Republicans to end the filibuster remains an open question heading into the fall legislative session, though Thune has so far maintained that the votes to change the rule do not exist within the GOP conference.