Washington – President Biden said Thursday he would be willing to consider supporting the removal of the filibuster if Republicans in the Senate use it to prevent Democratic legislative priorities from receiving a full vote on the Senate floor. He also advocated the return of a “talking” filibuster, which would require a senator to speak for an extended period of time in order to block a bill.
Most legislation in the Senate requires 60 votes to overcome an obstacle. Democrats have a narrow majority of 50 seats and most Democratic legislation is unlikely to get the support of ten Republicans. The filibuster is the main obstacle for Democrats who achieve most of their legislative priorities.
In his first press conference as president, Biden said the filibuster “was being gigantically abused.” He added that a speaking filibuster would force senators to “stand there and talk and talk and talk and talk until they collapse,” and then the Senate could proceed with a vote afterwards.
“I strongly support moving in that direction,” Biden said. This would not address the issue of a bill that needs 60 votes to move forward and left aside a question about whether he believed 60 votes should be passed or 51 votes to break a filibuster.
He also described himself as a “practical man” and suggested that he would be willing to go further on the filibuster if it seemed clear that Democratic priorities, such as voting rights bills, would not receive votes in the word.
“If we have to do it, if there’s a complete blockage and chaos as a result of the filibuster, we’re going to have to go beyond what I’m talking about,” Biden said.
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Democrats were able to approve their recent $ 1.9 trillion U.S. bailout plan through a process known as reconciliation, which allows certain accounts to be approved by a simple majority. But reconciliation cannot be used for most types of legislation, establishing a possible confrontation in the Senate on immigration, voting rights and more.
Earlier Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would bring a massive vote on voting rights and government reform to the Senate floor for a vote, though it is almost certain to fail because of the republican opposition.
GOP senators claim that S. 1, known as the By the Law of the People, is a takeover by Democrats, while Democrats insist they are trying to protect voting rights as several states introduce legislation that could make voting difficult.
“Across the country, the Republican Party seems to believe that the best strategy for winning elections is not to win more voters, but to try to prevent the other side from voting,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday. “This is not America. This is not democracy. And this Senate will take steps to protect the voting rights of tens of millions of Americans. The Senate will vote the Law for the People.”
The bill would establish an automatic, same-day, online voter registration nationwide. It includes some measures that would force states to review their registration systems. It would extend absenteeism, limit the ability of states to remove people from voter lists, increase federal funding for electoral security, and reform the redistricting process.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed S. 1 in a speech on the Senate floor moments after Schumer spoke, calling the democratic arguments that he would protect voting rights a “nonsense.”
“This goal is to let Washington Democrats manipulate the rules of democracy from the top down to hide this partisan project behind the smoke screen of voting rights,” McConnell said.
The People’s Law may not even receive the support of all Democrats, as Sen. Joe Manchin expressed skepticism about the bill on Wednesday. He is currently the only Democrat in the Senate who is not a co-sponsor of the bill. Manchin, a moderate West Virginia Democrat, is also vehemently opposed to eliminating the filibuster.
“I think we should all be able to unite around voting rights, but we should limit ourselves to voting rights,” Manchin told reporters Wednesday, arguing that S. 1 as it is currently written “It could divide us even more on a partisan basis.” But if the bill were limited to voting rights, it would remove provisions related to campaign funding and ethical reform, which are key priorities for progressives.
In a lengthy statement Tuesday, Manchin expressed concern about S. 1 and said he would support bipartisan legislation on voting rights.
“As the Senate prepares to pass the Act for the people, we must work to achieve a bipartisan solution that protects everyone’s right to vote, protects our elections from foreign interference, and increases transparency in our laws. Campaign funding, promoting legislation of this magnitude, can be partisan in the short term, but will inevitably only aggravate the mistrust that millions of Americans maintain against the United States government, ”said Manchin.
His statement Thursday also indicates that he is unwilling to create an exception to the filibuster rule specifically for voting rights, as some Democrats have suggested. Manchin said last week that creating such a cut would be “being a little pregnant,” meaning it’s impossible to partially change the filibuster.
Some senators have changed their minds about the filibuster as it is clear that Republicans will block many Democratic-backed bills. Senator Angus King, an independent who is arguing with Democrats, wrote in an opinion post in the Washington Post on Wednesday that “supporting the continuation of the rule is increasingly difficult to justify” if the minority uses the filibuster as a tool. ‘obstruction.
“The filibuster cannot allow total opposition to reasonable protections of voting rights; if it is forced to choose between a Senate government and democracy itself, I know where I will go down,” King wrote. He cited Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who recently said in a speech on the Senate floor that “it is a contradiction to say that we should protect the rights of minorities in the Senate, while refusing to protect the rights of minorities in the Senate. society “.
Warnock argued Thursday that it is critical to pass S. 1 to counter a bill signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Thursday that includes new restrictions on postal voting. Critics say the bill will disproportionately affect people of color, making it harder for them to vote.
“Instead of adjusting his message, some Georgian politicians have decided to rewrite the rules with SB 202: a veiled attempt to suppress the vote. It’s Jim Crow in new clothes. We won’t go back. And Congress must act to protect the sacred right to vote “, Warnock, representing Georgia, wrote on Twitter.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema has also said she is against removing the rule. Unless she and Manchin change their minds, most of the progressive legislation proposed by Democrats will remain at the limit.
In a letter to fellow Democrats on Thursday, Schumer also said the Senate Judiciary Committee would soon pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would reinstate the provisions of the Supreme Court Voting Rights Act of 1965. Like S. 1, it is unlikely to receive the necessary support from 60 senators.
Schumer added that the Senate will pass the Equality Act, which would collect legal protections for LGBTQ Americans, and the COVID-19 hate crime legislation proposed by Senator Mazie Hirono aimed at protecting Asian Americans from violence. and discrimination.
He also said the Senate would pass legislation on arms control and climate change-related bills, which are unlikely to get Republican support.
“The challenges our country still faces are immense and there is no reason why the two sides cannot work together on issues that will affect the future of our country and our children,” Schumer said in his speech to Senate floor. “We will not agree on everything, but we must agree that inaction is unacceptable. The Senate must help the country finish the job against COVID by continuing to build a more egalitarian economy and a fairer society.”