John Cooper is Associate Director for Institute Communications at The Heritage Foundation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

There is one thing preventing the left from getting its way and fundamentally reshaping America: the Senate filibuster.

The Senate exists to check the rash and radical impulses of the majority, regardless of party, to prevent the “tyranny of the majority” our founders rightly feared.

The left should focus on building consensus and crafting legislation that appeals to the broad spectrum of Americans.

Most of what you’ve heard about the left’s extremist agenda is true. They haven’t been exactly quiet about it.

The radical left, which is now setting the agenda for the White House and at least one chamber of Con-gress, is intent on imposing a government takeover of the health care system, implementing the job-killing Green New Deal and packing the Supreme Court.

There is, however, one thing preventing the left from getting its way and fundamentally reshaping America: the Senate filibuster.

The filibuster is a central part of Senate tradition that’s been around for centuries. It’s a rule that ultimately requires 60 votes in order to pass legislation, and was designed to encourage moderation and counter the House of Representative’s majoritarian impulses.

Now, however, many on the left are openly calling to eliminate the filibuster so they can ram their partisan, quasi-socialist agenda through Congress.

This agenda is extreme enough in itself, but what’s just as jarring about this push to change centuries of tradition is the hypocrisy of so many who once viewed the filibuster as sacred now calling to eliminate it—or refusing to rule out doing so.

That includes Joe Biden.