Democrats weigh filibuster reform to pass voting rights legislation after GOP opposition
Biden says he’s open to eliminating filibuster to pass voting-rights ‘and maybe more’ issues
The shift in attitude toward the rule comes after Senate Republicans filibustered a the Freedom to Vote Act, a paired back voting rights package pushed by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who aggressively courted Republican votes for the bill. The failed vote was the third voting rights package filibustered by Republicans this year.
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The filibuster is a procedural rule in the Senate that requires 60 votes to bring a bill to a vote. The rule is a historical quirk that has been increasingly used by the party out of power to obstruct legislation they oppose, intensifying gridlock in Washington.
Democrats’ frustration on voting rights come as Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country enact dozens of restrictive voting laws in response to debunked claims of widespread voter fraud.
“Across the country, the big lie — the big lie — has spread like a cancer,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday before the failed vote. “The Freedom to Vote Act would provide long overdue remedies for all these concerns.”
Biden, a former longtime senator who sees himself as a bipartisan dealmaker, indicated that he was open to amending the filibuster rule to pass a voting rights package “and maybe more” during the CNN town hall.
While a majority of senators in the Democratic caucus have expressed an interest in amending the filibuster to overcome partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill, lawmakers differ in what changes they’d like to see for the rule.
“I’m not really ready to say ‘let’s get rid of it altogether,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Sunday. King, like many of his colleagues in the caucus, supports a “talking filibuster” that would require senators blocking legislation to be present on the floor for debate when stopping legislation.
Reforming the filibuster would require all 50 Senate Democrats agreeing to amend the rule. While nearly the entire caucus has expressed openness to changing if not abolishing the rule outright, Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., maintain they will not vote to amend the rule.
Democrats have indicated that they will try to persuade the two holdout senators that amending the filibuster is the only way to advance bills that counteract what many in the party see as a non-negotiable issue.
“We have to very clearly demonstrate to some of our colleagues that we’ve exhausted every other option,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said after the failed vote. “But patience is not eternal, time is running out.”
Follow Matthew Brown online @mrbrownsir.