Biden backs changes to filibuster; GOP vowing a ‘scorched earth’
President Joe Biden is calling for changes to the filibuster to require lawmakers to speak on the floor of the Senate to hold up a bill, while the chamber’s Republican leader warns of “scorched-earth” tactics if Democrats use their new majority to bring an end to the legislative roadblock entirely.
Biden, in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, restated his opposition to eliminating the filibuster but suggested he supported changes to make it more costly and time-consuming for those trying to block bills. Currently, any lawmaker can signal their intent to filibuster, setting a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation, without ever speaking on the floor.
“I don’t think that you have to eliminate the filibuster. You have to do it what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days,” Biden said. “You had to stand up and command the floor. You had to keep talking.”
“You’ve got to work for the filibuster,” he added. “It’s getting to the point where, you know, democracy is having a hard time functioning.”
His comments on Tuesday came hours after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned of a “scorched earth” landscape if Democrats end the filibuster in hopes of muscling Biden’s agenda past GOP opposition.
McConnell forecast a Senate that would all but cease to function, implying that Republicans would grind business to a halt by refusing to give consent for routine operations — from the start time for sessions, to the reading of long legislative texts, to quorum call votes.
“Let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues: Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin — can even begin to imagine — what a completely scorched-earth Senate would look like,” McConnell said Tuesday in a Senate speech.
McConnell said the partisan gridlock of the Trump and Obama eras would look like “child’s play” compared to what’s to come.
The debate over the filibuster reignited as the Biden administration is taking a victory lap over the justpassed $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the big COVID-19 relief package that was approved by Congress without a single Republican vote. Republicans acknowledged privately they are struggling to pry attention away from the bill, which appears to be popular among Americans benefiting from $1,400 cash payments, vaccine distribution and other aid, as the GOP focuses on future battles.
With the Senate evenly divided, 50-50, the rest of Biden’s priorities face a tougher climb in Congress. While the Democratic-controlled House is able to swiftly approve a long list of potentially popular bills — to expand voting rights, extend gun purchase background checks and other measures — the rules of the Senate are more cumbersome. It typically requires 60 votes to break a filibuster to advance most legislation.