Heartland Politics with Robin Johnson

The Breakdown of the US Senate and the role of Filibuster

By Robin Johnson

Published September 19, 2025 at 12:33 PM CDT

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Adam Jentleson, former top aide to Sens. Harry Reid and John Fetterman, discusses his book Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and Crippling of American Democracy. He outlines the history of the Senate, the invention of the filibuster as part of the long-time Southern opposition to civil rights measures, and how the filibuster came to be used for legislation beyond civil rights that has led to the 60-vote threshold for most Senate action.

Heartland Politics with Robin Johnson

Robin Johnson

Robin A. Johnson is a governmental relations, public policy and political consultant. He is an expert on government reform issues and has consulted with numerous local governments on consolidation/merger, public-private partnerships and full-cost accounting of public services. Robin has also helped candidates win elections for the U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, state legislature, judiciary and local government. Robin served as a consultant to the Office of Statewide Performance Review in the Illinois Governor’s Office and is former director of the Illinois Center for Competitive Government, a partnership between the Illinois Comptroller’s Office and the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University. Prior to that, he was Director of the Local Government Affairs Division of the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. Robin served on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships (NCPPP) in 1999-2000.

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