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Biden reaffirms support for changing Senate filibuster to pass voting rights bills
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IANS | 13 Jan, 2022
US President Joe Biden said he supports changing the Senate filibuster
rule so as to make it easier for the chamber to pass legislation
upholding Americans' right to vote.
The filibuster is a rule in
the US Senate that requires 60 votes for virtually every piece of
legislation to advance, reports xinhua news agency.
Biden, a
veteran US senator who during his 36 years serving in the chamber has
been a stalwart supporter of its traditions, gave what was perhaps his
clearest affirmation of support for a change in the filibuster, making
clear his inclination toward abandoning the rule in the legislative
process of voting rights bills.
Claiming that the filibuster has
been "weaponised and abused", the President said: "I support changing
the Senate rules whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a
minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights. When it
comes to protecting majority rule in America, the majority should rule
in the US Senate."
To underscore the urgency of protecting
Americans' right to vote, Biden said at least 19 states have enacted a
total of 34 pieces of legislation that would make it harder for people
to cast their ballot.
The President's remarks came at a time when
two major pieces of voting rights legislation were stalled in the
Senate, where 50 Republicans acted in lockstep to oppose them, making it
impossible for the bills to overcome the 60-vote threshold for passage.
The
bills at issue are the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which
would restore the federal government's authority to scrutinize state
voting laws to prevent discrimination, and the Freedom to Vote Act,
which would regulate mail-in voting, early voting and other
election-related procedures on the national level.
Biden in his speech urged the Senate to pass the two bills.
Democratic
senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona
have been adamant in their opposition to changing the filibuster, making
the prospect of a shift in the rule -- which requires all 50 Democratic
senators to get onboard -- uncertain at best.
A full elimination
of the filibuster is not what's sought by the majority of Democrats,
who instead are mulling more limited measures such as a "carveout" that
would exempt voting rights legislation from needing 60 votes, or moving
to what's known as the talking filibuster, where opponents may delay the
vote on a bill for as long as they can hold the floor but the
legislation would still pass by a simple majority in the end.
Manchin has yet to endorse any change proposed so far by his colleagues regarding the filibuster.
"We
need some good rules changes to make the place work better. But getting
rid of the filibuster doesn't make it work better," Manchin told
reporters on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has
vowed to take up the voting rights legislation this week and bring up a
rules change vote by January 17 in the event that Republicans block the
election bills.
In response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell on Tuesday warned of retaliation from the Republicans if
Democrats were to force the rules change.
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