The Senate is threatening to box in President Biden
Joe BidenBiden to sign executive order aimed at increasing voting access Myanmar military conducts violent night raids Confidence in coronavirus vaccines has grown with majority now saying they want it MORE and congressional Democrats, who pledged to enact a bold agenda if given power.
With the House passing a slate of big bills and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerBiden takes victory lap after Senate passes coronavirus relief package Lawmakers demand changes after National Guard troops at Capitol sickened from tainted food Ron Johnson forces reading of 628-page Senate coronavirus relief bill on floor MORE (D-N.Y.) vowing to give them a vote on the floor, Democrats are quickly barreling toward a pressure point on whether to nix the legislative filibuster.
Without structural changes in the Senate, progressives warn that many of Biden’s big campaign promises are effectively doomed.
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Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin
Dick DurbinSenate approves sweeping coronavirus measure in partisan vote Senate rejects Cruz effort to block stimulus checks for undocumented immigrants Senate inches toward COVID-19 vote after marathon session MORE (D-Ill.), asked about the progressive criticism, acknowledged, “There’s truth to it.”
“Unfortunately, we've reached that point. And if enough members in the Senate agree, we’ll change the rules,” Durbin said.
The filibuster has come back in the spotlight after the parliamentarian ruled recently that an increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour didn’t comply with rules governing what could be included in the coronavirus legislation.
But there are bigger tests awaiting Senate Democrats as the House sends them a growing number of bills that likely can’t pass with the filibuster intact and wouldn’t meet the requirements of being squeezed into reconciliation.
Just this week, the House passed a sweeping election and ethics reform bill and police reform legislation — neither of which can get 60 votes in its current form. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellBiden takes victory lap after Senate passes coronavirus relief package GOP votes in unison against COVID-19 relief bill Senate approves sweeping coronavirus measure in partisan vote MORE (R-Ky.) has lambasted the first, known as H.R. 1, and the second gets rid of a legal shield for police officers, known as qualified immunity. That’s considered a non-starter for most Republicans.
Schumer has also put the Equality Act — a sweeping civil rights bill that expands protections in education, housing, employment and more to LGBT people— on the Senate calendar, a first step to giving the bill a vote.
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Schumer, during a weekly press conference, pledged that the Senate would no longer be a “graveyard,” but asked if he was willing to nix the legislative filibuster if Republicans blocked bills, he demurred.
“The bottom line is ... we're going to come together as a caucus and figure out a way to get the bold action the American people demand. But we will put bills on the floor. That's the huge difference between McConnell and us,” Schumer said.
Part of the problem for supporters of nixing the filibuster is that they don’t currently have the votes among Senate Democrats to do it.
A handful of others senators are viewed as wary of nixing the legislative filibuster. Sens. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) ManchinSunday shows preview: Manchin makes the rounds after pivotal role in coronavirus relief debate Biden takes victory lap after Senate passes coronavirus relief package Schumer insists Democrats unified after chaotic coronavirus debate MORE (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are on the record against getting rid of it, positions they both reiterated as recently as this week.
But Democrats are betting the calculus within the caucus changes as they bring up big priorities for the party and Republicans block them from getting the 60 votes needed to overcome initial procedural hurdles.
“When they come to understand the futility of what we're engaged in. We can't even consider serious issues because of the Senate rules, and they have a different point of view,” Durbin said, asked what it would take to get Manchin and Sinema to a different position.
Sen. Jon Tester
Jonathan (Jon) TesterSenate approves sweeping coronavirus measure in partisan vote Senate rejects Cruz effort to block stimulus checks for undocumented immigrants Democrats break COVID-19 impasse with deal on jobless benefits MORE (D-Mont.), who is viewed as a key vote on potentially nixing the filibuster, told HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher
William (Bill) MaherWake up, America: Laughter is healing A community of public servants is at our disposal, if only we'd train it Bill Maher for Biden's 'Minister of Truth' MORE” that the filibuster was now being used to “stonewall” legislation rather than promote bipartisanship.
“I think we do need to go back and take a look at it. But I think we ought to give this Congress a chance to screw up before we change it,” he said.
Sen. Tim Kaine
Timothy (Tim) Michael KaineOvernight Defense: White House open to reforming war powers | Army base might house migrant children | Fauci scolds military on vaccine White House open to reforming war powers amid bipartisan push Ron Johnson grinds Senate to halt, irritating many MORE (D-Va.), who hasn’t explicitly come out in favor of gutting the legislative filibuster, predicted that if Democrats try to bring up bills and Republicans routinely block them, that will change the dynamic within the caucus.
“I think if you have an abstract discussion about should we change Senate rules, there’s a lot of people that just aren’t particularly passionate about that discussion. But if we start to get faced with a situation that bills we have repeatedly promised to our voters ... and then we find that Republicans want to block it, then we’ll have to ask ourselves what’s more important, keeping the promises that we made or some artificial Senate rule?” Kaine said.
Kaine added that if the bills were blocked and never passed because of GOP opposition and the Senate rules, it would be Democrats who would face backlash from voters in 2022.
“I think voters — I think they will hold it against the majority, if the majority doesn’t do what we said we would do,” he said.
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There’s growing support within the caucus, even as recently as this week, for nixing the legislative filibuster in order to pass key priorities, building pressure on Schumer and Biden.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this, and to be honest I started out believing we should keep the filibuster. ... But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the filibuster has long been the enemy of progress. In fact, it’s been a highly effective tool to thwart the will of the people,” Sen. Tina Smith
Tina Flint SmithSen. Tina Smith calls for eliminating filibuster Senator notices mismatching shoes at trial: 'I had a lot on my mind' Overnight Energy: Biden administration delays Trump rollback of migratory bird protections | Democrats seek to block further Arctic drilling | Democratic senator pushes for clean electricity standard MORE (D-Minn.) wrote in a Facebook post this week.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Amy KlobucharHillicon Valley: China implicated in Microsoft breach | White House adds Big Tech critic | QAnon unfazed after false prediction FDA signals plan to address toxic elements in baby food Sen. Tina Smith calls for eliminating filibuster MORE (D-Minn.), who had previously expressed an openness to cutting the filibuster, also told Mother Jones after the House’s passage of H.R. 1 that “I would get rid of the filibuster.”
Sen. Chris Murphy
Christopher (Chris) Scott MurphyBiden reignites war powers fight with Syria strike Gun violence prevention groups optimistic background check legislation can pass this Congress Democrats reintroduce gun sale background check legislation MORE (D-Conn.), who has long supported filibuster reform, said during an MSNBC interview that while the caucus didn’t currently have the votes to get rid of the filibuster, it could potentially reform it.
“One of the reforms we’re thinking about when it comes to the filibuster is just going back to the old days and saying if you want to stop something from passing then you actually have to sit on the floor, you actually have to give speech after speech,” Murphy said.
But to nix or reform the filibuster, Democrats would need every senator in their 50-member caucus and Vice President Harris. It’s not clear if growing support from colleagues or even the prospect of entrenched opposition will sway the caucus’s biggest opponents to getting rid of the rule.
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Manchin, during a series of interviews on Sunday, reiterated his opposition to getting rid of the filibuster altogether.
But in remarks that quickly caught the attention of reform advocates, Manchin signaled an openness to making it more “painful” to use the procedural roadblock, including potentially looking at talking filibusters that require opponents to be physically on the floor.
“If you want to make it a little bit more painful, make them stand there and talk. I'm willing to look at any way we can,” Manchin told “Meet the Press.”
"But I am not willing to take away the involvement of the minority," he added. "I've been in the minority."
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