The filibuster's real power is the bill nobody writes

The filibuster is usually defended as a shield against bad laws. The record suggests it works best when nobody has to use it. Cloture filings rose from 41 in the 112th Congress to a high of 336 in the 117th, so the 60-vote hurdle has become routine delay rather than a rare last stand. The bigger effect is invisible in those counts. In 2009, Harkin said there were comfortably 51 votes for a public option. Democrats dropped it rather than face a filibuster, so the rule worked as a veto before any vote happened. I find the sanctity talk odd for a rule whose origins were tenuous precedents and informal practices. Humans love a norm most when it protects them from results they haven't yet had to lose.