Trump is a terrible person. Trump is a disaster as president. When it comes to the filibuster and the Senate’s so-called blue slip policy, Trump is right.
The Filibuster
As I have written and said many times, the filibuster should be abolished. The idea that one senator can block a piece of legislation (even one supported by a majority of the Senate) is undemocratic. Historically, the filibuster has been most often used to prevent progress–especially in the area of civil rights.
It’s true that Trump wants to use the filibuster to end the shutdown he and his party created, but the reality is the filibuster simply prevents lots of things from being done and gives individual senators too much power.
Even though Trump and his most devoted political supporters would use a simple majority vote process to do even more cruel and stupid things, America needs a system without the filibuster. This will really be true when Trump and the Republicans are out of power and speedy legislation will be necessary to undo the damage they have done.
The Blue Slip Policy
The Senate’s blue slip policy allows a senator from the home state of a judicial district to block the nomination of anyone they don’t like who has been nominated by the president to lead that judicial district. In simple terms, this allows one senator to overrule the president’s constitutional authority to appoint people to lead judicial districts without the Senate even holding a hearing on the nomination.
While trump wants the Senate to eliminate the blue slip policy so he can appoint unqualified, unprincipled lawyers dedicated to prosecuting his enemies, the reality is the blue slip policy is undemocratic and should be abolished.
Conclusion
Even though they will abuse the new power, I really hope Trump and the Republicans eliminate the filibuster and the blue slip policy. Getting rid of those undemocratic practices will, in the long run, lead to much better legislation and better nominees once remotely responsible and somewhat inteligent people are in power.
Even though it hurts me to say it, Trump isn’t always wrong. His reasons are terrible. He doesn’t care about democracy. But on these two important issues, Trump is right.