One Nation, a 501(c)(4) group that describes itself as solving “America’s great problems,” has apparently found a new issue to zero in on: the filibuster. On Wednesday, the group released a series of radio, television, and digital ads calling on Sen. Joe Manchin’s West Virginia constituents to give him a call and urge him to keep his promise to not touch the filibuster. The ads include snippets of Manchin saying he does not want to remove the filibuster, which Democrats see as a major roadblock to being able to pass meaningful voting rights legislation. Manchin has held firm in his insistence that the filibuster must stay untouched, so it’s a little surprising a group that can legally spend its money lobbying any candidate has chosen to do so with the West Virginia senator. Less surprising is who’s behind One Nation, however.
One Nation previously existed under a different name, Alliance for America’s Future, and was helmed by former GOP consultants like Barry Bennett (whose you may recognize as a Trump lobbyist) and Rep. Liz Cheney’s former chief of staff, Kara Ahern. Alliance for America’s Future did little until Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS took it over in 2015, likely eying its lucrative 501(c)(4) status as the main reason for Rove to put his all into what’s now known as One Nation. Crossroads GPS has been relatively quiet lately, though it did finally gain the same nonprofit status it had been lobbying for since 2010. One Nation has emerged as a major player in the “dark money” world, with campaign funding watchdog Open Secrets reporting that the group spent the most out of any “dark money” organization during the 2020 election, with One Nation spending around $125 million on ads and political contributions.
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The ads created by One Nation may not look all that polished or stand out from local campaign ads for, say, a city council member, but there’s a lot riding on them. The pressure won’t just be coming from West Virginians who feel like calling up Manchin’s offices, but from one of the central figures with ties to One Nation: Mitch McConnell. In its current iteration, One Nation has a board and employees that include a former Pfizer lobbyist and a former McConnell aide who ties everything together—Steven J. Law. Law is the president and CEO of One Nation and serves in other prominent positions with similar organizations, including some groups that fall under the Crossroads umbrella. He’s also CEO of the Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee that was created by McConnell supporters in 2015. One Nation has been a supporter of the Senate Leadership Fund for quite some time, and, according to OpenSecrets, gave at least $19 million to the PAC during the 2020 election cycle.
Both groups are aggressive in their goals of retaining GOP power, and it’s clear that One Nation believes that the filibuster is a key component to giving Republicans the upper hand. Filibuster reform can look like a whole lot of things, including temporarily removing the filibuster in order to pass voting rights bills. Another option would be to restore the original filibuster and make it that much more difficult to deploy. The term first appeared in the 1850s and filibustering gradually changed from lengthy speeches that have no simple way of ending. In 1917, the Senate created a way to move forward with proceedings by invoking cloture. Over the years, the votes needed to end debate changed from two-thirds to three-fifths. As it stands today, however, even the threat of a filibuster can bring Senate proceedings to a standstill unless cloture is invoked and 60 votes can be reached to end debate. Manchin has made it clear he doesn’t even want to touch the filibuster, but it’s a mixed bag to most Americans.
According to a Morning Consult poll, a quarter of respondents either don’t know enough about the filibuster or have no opinion about it, while 48% were pro-filibuster and 27% were anti-filibuster. Educating Americans about the filibuster, including its racist history, could drastically change how the general public feels about reform, especially as it relates to passing voting rights legislation.
Call on Democratic senators to enact meaningful filibuster reform in order to pass voting rights legislation. More importantly, what does filibuster reform look like to you? Is it a matter of changing how many votes can end a filibuster, or should it be scrapped altogether?
One Nation previously existed under a different name, Alliance for America’s Future, and was helmed by former GOP consultants like Barry Bennett (whose you may recognize as a Trump lobbyist) and Rep. Liz Cheney’s former chief of staff, Kara Ahern. Alliance for America’s Future did little until Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS took it over in 2015, likely eying its lucrative 501(c)(4) status as the main reason for Rove to put his all into what’s now known as One Nation. Crossroads GPS has been relatively quiet lately, though it did finally gain the same nonprofit status it had been lobbying for since 2010. One Nation has emerged as a major player in the “dark money” world, with campaign funding watchdog Open Secrets reporting that the group spent the most out of any “dark money” organization during the 2020 election, with One Nation spending around $125 million on ads and political contributions.
YouTube Video
The ads created by One Nation may not look all that polished or stand out from local campaign ads for, say, a city council member, but there’s a lot riding on them. The pressure won’t just be coming from West Virginians who feel like calling up Manchin’s offices, but from one of the central figures with ties to One Nation: Mitch McConnell. In its current iteration, One Nation has a board and employees that include a former Pfizer lobbyist and a former McConnell aide who ties everything together—Steven J. Law. Law is the president and CEO of One Nation and serves in other prominent positions with similar organizations, including some groups that fall under the Crossroads umbrella. He’s also CEO of the Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee that was created by McConnell supporters in 2015. One Nation has been a supporter of the Senate Leadership Fund for quite some time, and, according to OpenSecrets, gave at least $19 million to the PAC during the 2020 election cycle.
Both groups are aggressive in their goals of retaining GOP power, and it’s clear that One Nation believes that the filibuster is a key component to giving Republicans the upper hand. Filibuster reform can look like a whole lot of things, including temporarily removing the filibuster in order to pass voting rights bills. Another option would be to restore the original filibuster and make it that much more difficult to deploy. The term first appeared in the 1850s and filibustering gradually changed from lengthy speeches that have no simple way of ending. In 1917, the Senate created a way to move forward with proceedings by invoking cloture. Over the years, the votes needed to end debate changed from two-thirds to three-fifths. As it stands today, however, even the threat of a filibuster can bring Senate proceedings to a standstill unless cloture is invoked and 60 votes can be reached to end debate. Manchin has made it clear he doesn’t even want to touch the filibuster, but it’s a mixed bag to most Americans.
According to a Morning Consult poll, a quarter of respondents either don’t know enough about the filibuster or have no opinion about it, while 48% were pro-filibuster and 27% were anti-filibuster. Educating Americans about the filibuster, including its racist history, could drastically change how the general public feels about reform, especially as it relates to passing voting rights legislation.
Call on Democratic senators to enact meaningful filibuster reform in order to pass voting rights legislation. More importantly, what does filibuster reform look like to you? Is it a matter of changing how many votes can end a filibuster, or should it be scrapped altogether?