Block a bill? Biden wants old-school Senate filibusters
WASHINGTON » President Joe Biden wants the Senate to change its filibuster rules to force senators to stand and talk for hours, as happened in Hollywood movies and during the civil rights era, if they want to block his legislative agenda.
It would be a dramatic shift for the Senate, a throwback, embraced by leading Democrats in the 50-50 chamber who are looking for ways to prevent a Republican blockade of Biden’s priorities.
While the House is able to approve bills swiftly, the rules of the Senate are more cumbersome. A single senator can now signal an intent to filibuster, setting a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation. Requiring a “talking filibuster” would force opponents of a bill to make their case, but it could also grind the Senate to a halt and turn deliberations into a madefor-TV spectacle with political fallout for all sides.
“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 in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “You had to stand up and command the floor. You had to keep talking.”
The filibuster question is expected to hover over this first year of Biden’s presidency. Fresh off passage of Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, top Democratic senators said Wednesday they’re not quite ready to make any changes. Biden’s backing of the “talking filibuster” idea being promoted by centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was not yet likely to speed the process. There are political risks and rewards at play, and Republican leader Mitch McConnell has vowed a “scorched earth” payback if Democrats change the rules.