Over 350 Scholars And Historians Urge Filibuster Reform To Restore Representative Government WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 22 (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) May 4, 2021 12:44 p.m. Over 350 scholars, historians and political scientists urge Congress to take action on filibuster reform in a new letter first obtained by TPM, arguing that the Framers never intended for the Senate to rely on supermajorities to pass even routine, bipartisan legislation. The group includes such prominent historians as Pulitzer Prize winners Jack Rakove, Gary Wills, David Hacket Fischer, Daniel Walker Howe, Ron Chernow and Debby Applegate. They wrote that the Framers “explicitly rejected” the supermajority requirement for most legislation after observing the gridlock caused by the Articles of Confederation mandating the higher threshold for a whole host of federal action. At the Constitutional Convention, the scholars wrote, the Framers nixed the supermajority threshold for all but impeachment, treaties and amending the Constitution.