In Senate farewell, Pat Toomey tells Republicans the GOP should be bigger than one man

Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) urged his party to look beyond former President Donald Trump, and called on the Senate to preserve the filibuster as he delivered his farewell speech to the chamber Thursday, laying out ideas he argued would help preserve, or strengthen, democratic debate and accountability.

Toomey, who didn’t seek reelection this year and is now in his final weeks as a senator, also said Democrats shouldn’t use unelected officials to impose policies that skirt Congress, and suggested the Senate allow a more open amendment process to ease dysfunction.

“For my Republican colleagues, let me just say, our party can’t be about or beholden to any one man,” Toomey said on the Senate floor. “We’re much bigger than that.”

He didn’t name the man, though it was clear he was talking about Trump. Toomey, now at the end of 12 years in the Senate, twice voted for Trump and supported most of the former president’s policies, but broke with him over the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and attempts to overthrow Pennsylvania’s vote in the 2020 election. And while Trump has shifted the GOP’s stances on some economic matters, including international trade, Toomey, a staunch advocate for unfettered capitalism and open markets, called on the party to avoid the populism now embraced by some Republicans.

“I hope we resist the temptation to adopt the protectionist, nativist, isolationist, redistributive policies that some are suggesting we embrace,” he said.

» READ MORE: Pat Toomey didn’t change in his 12 years as a senator. The GOP did.

He cast the filibuster — the Senate rule that requires 60 votes for nearly any major legislation — as essential to bipartisanship.

“It’s the only mechanism that forces bipartisan consensus. It prevents government governance from the extremes,” Toomey said.

Both parties have contributed to eliminating the filibuster for judicial nominees, (a step Toomey supported to help confirm Supreme Court justices under Trump). Many Democrats have now urged their party to scrap the rule for legislation, too, arguing that it’s wrong to let a minority of lawmakers stonewall legislation with widespread public support.

Toomey’s incoming replacement, Democratic Sen.-elect John Fetterman, campaigned heavily on a vow to get rid of the filibuster.

Turning to Democrats, Toomey said that while they “sincerely” believe they are protecting democracy, the power of elections is damaged when unelected officials are allowed to impose policy. Toomey, for example, fought hard against a recent Federal Reserve nominee whom he feared would use the central bank’s powers to impose climate policy on businesses.

“When we hand over Congress’ responsibilities to unelected and therefore unaccountable parts of our government, be that the courts or independent regulators or executive branch agencies, we really undermine our democracy,” he said. “Now look, both sides have done this over time. But I just hope we could all agree that preserving more responsibility and therefore accountability for the legislative branch of government is a good thing for our republic.”

Lastly, he called on the Senate to change the rule that allows a single senator to block most proposed amendments, saying that makes it too easy to stifle debate.

» READ MORE: Pat Toomey Q&A: What he says about tax cuts, gun legislation, Jan. 6, and Trump

“I don’t think this rule is workable anymore, and it contributes to the dysfunction. … I don’t know what the right number is, and I’m not religious about this. Maybe it’s 10. Maybe it’s 50,” Toomey said. “But I would just suggest that this body consider somehow raising the bar of preventing the Senate from functioning.”

Several colleagues gave speeches praising Toomey, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Sens. Susan Collins (R., Maine), Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) and fellow Pennsylvanian Bob Casey.

Casey, a Democrat, praised Toomey’s votes to support Pennsylvania’s lawful Electoral College slate after the 2020 election, and to convict Trump in the impeachment trial that followed the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

“He wanted to advance the interests of democracy,” Casey said.