■ Harry Reid said if Joe Biden is elected, he should end the filibuster unless the GOP shows good faith.

Party dean suggests Biden end filibuster if he wins, is stymied

WASHINGTON — Former Senate leader Harry Reid said that if Democrats win the presidency and the Senate, Joe Biden should take “no more than three weeks” to test bipartisanship before ending the filibuster so Democrats can overcome what they call Republican obstruction and pass bills.

The retired Nevada Democrat said in an interview that he understands that Biden wants to work with Republicans.

But Reid said there is just too much that needs to be done in the country to wait around trying to reach agreements under the decades-old Senate practice of requiring 60 votes to advance legislation.

“Biden, who wants always to get along with people, I understand that,” Reid said. “We should give the Republicans a little bit of time to see if they’re going to work with him. But the time’s going to come when he’s going to have to move in and get rid of the filibuster.”

Asked how long Biden should wait it out before changing the rules, Reid said: “No more than three weeks.”

The 80-year-old Reid, who retired in 2017, has been among the highest-level political voices in favor of ending the 60-vote threshold for legislation.

From afar, the onetime majority leader has made his views known before, but rarely has he suggested a deadline for action.

Reid said that if Biden thinks he can cut bipartisan deals with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the GOP leader, as they did in earlier years, “more power to him.”

But Reid warned that he knows McConnell better than any other Democratic and said Biden “ought to be very careful.”

This is well-traveled terrain for the long-serving former senator, who helped sparked today’s procedural battles by partially ending the filibuster when Democrats had the majority.

The rules change that Reid engineered allowed Democrats to confirm President Barack Obama’s administrative and most federal judicial nominees despite Republicans roadblocks.

When Republicans took control, McConnell pushed it to the next level with President Donald Trump, eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court picks.

McConnell’s critics say he is breaking the Senate, but Trump has been able to seat two Supreme Court justices on majority-only votes, and the Senate is poised to confirm a third, Amy Coney Barrett, on Monday.

Reid’s influence continues to be felt across Democratic political landscape, in ways large and small.

He talks often to Biden and regularly keeps in touch with others, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and even some Republicans.

Reid suggests that Democrats are unwilling to sit by and allow Republicans to potentially block their agenda.

“We want to get something done,” he said. “There’s so much more to do, and we can’t do it if it takes 60 votes to get it done.”

Harry Reid