Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Democrats should force votes on a stock-trading ban and anti-corruption bills, and scrap the Senate filibuster if Republicans block them.
What Warren posted
Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, posted the plan on X on Saturday morning, four days after her party won control of the Senate in the midterms.
- Sat., Nov. 7, 9:52 a.m. ET (@ewarren): “We should put policies like banning federal stock trading and cracking down on Trump’s corruption up for a vote.” She added: “If they do, let’s clear away Senate filibuster rules and pass the laws anyway.”
- Sat., 10:00 a.m. ET (@SenWarren): Eight minutes later, on her official Senate account, she wrote that working people “are counting on us to deliver.”
The post repeats an argument Warren made earlier this week in an op-ed in Time magazine, according to Roll Call. On X, it drew more than 1,000 likes within an hour.
The filibuster, explained
The filibuster is a Senate rule that lets a minority keep most bills from coming to a final vote unless 60 of 100 senators agree to end debate.
- A majority can change that rule with 51 votes, a move often called the “nuclear option.”
- Both parties have already used it to end the 60-vote rule for nominees, including judges.
- Democrats take control of the Senate in January. President Trump could still veto bills they pass.
Where the stock-trading ban stands
Congress has debated a stock-trading ban for years. The latest attempt stalled in September.
- July 22: The House passed the Stop Insider Trading Act, 232–198. It also included a separate photo voter ID requirement, according to the Independent Center.
- Sept. 30: The Senate fell seven votes short of the 60 needed to move forward, 53–47, according to Roll Call. Senate records show Warren and other Democrats voted no.
- Democrats called the voter ID language a “poison pill.” Republicans said Democrats voted against accountability.
Democrats are not united on the rule
Warren is not alone. Incoming Texas Sen. James Talarico called the filibuster “a Jim Crow relic” in an NBC News interview, Roll Call reported. The progressive group Indivisible has urged Democrats to break it on the first day of the new Congress.
Others are cautious. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer did not answer a question about ending the filibuster on Wednesday, saying instead, “The first thing we’ll do is reduce costs and work the legislative process,” according to Roll Call. Fox News also reported that he sidestepped the question. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has defended the rule.
The other side
Outgoing Senate Majority Leader John Thune has long said he lacked the votes to change filibuster rules, even as Trump pressed Republicans to do so to pass the SAVE America Act. As of Saturday midday, Thune and other Senate Republican leaders had not responded publicly to Warren’s post.
Sources: @ewarren on X; @SenWarren on X; Roll Call (Nov. 5); Roll Call (Sept. 30); Fox News; Independent Center; Sen. Warren voting record.
