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The US Senate is quickly rushing into a high-stakes showdown over filibuster, a once obscure procedural maneuver that hinders democratic efforts to pass sweeping voting rights legislation, among other measures.
A filibuster fight, which sets a 60-vote threshold to advance legislation, seemed inevitable after Democrats narrowly took control of the Senate in January. But the emergency has intensified in recent weeks as Republicans in state legislatures across the country aggressively push for new voting restrictions.
The Senate introduced a sweeping voting rights bill last week S1 that has already passed the US House. With the obstruction fully in place, it has no chance to pass.
And the problem for Democrats is that there is no consensus within the Senate caucus on what exactly they should be doing about filibuster. Some Senate Democrats, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the most prominent among them, are strongly opposed to the complete elimination of the procedure, saying it ensures that the minority has a say in say in the legislative process. That means Senate Democrats will likely have to find a way to moderate the rule to allow them to legislate.
“The filibuster as it is, the status quo, is not sustainable and it won’t be like that in 12 months,” said Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago who served as Barack Obama’s chief of staff . “What we don’t know is what changes are palpable for senators.
There is a range of ideas going around. One that seems to be gaining support is the so-called filibuster. This would force senators who want to filibuster a bill to stand up for as long as they want to delay the bill. Other ideas include exempting voting rights legislation from filibuster or lowering the 60 vote threshold to move forward.
“Everything is on the table,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday.
Joe Biden has long opposed the elimination of filibuster. But this week, he energized defenders by endorsing the filibuster.
“It gets to the point where, you know, democracy has a hard time working,” he told George Stephanopoulos on ABC.
Manchin said Thursday he welcomed Biden’s position on the matter.
“I think it’s encouraging that President Biden understands this process and wants it to work, so at least he’s taking a stand. We’ll see what comes out, ”he said. “It is important to have a minority stake in the Senate, because without it you have nothing.”
Privately, Schumer reiterated what he publicly told advocates this week, saying the caucus was united and the bill would go to the Senate, according to a person familiar with the meeting. He did not say what the Democratic strategy on filibuster would be.
Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat and another strong supporter of the maneuver, said the filibuster was “worth exploring, but there are a lot of consequences.”
Democrats are raising the temperature on the need for reform. Last summer, Barack Obama called for getting rid of the filibuster, describing it as a “relic of Jim Crow.” Elizabeth Warren said this week that the filibuster “has deep roots in racism”. Senator Raphael Warnock, who became Georgia’s first black senator in January, delivered a moving speech in the Senate this week on the need to protect voting rights.
“This problem is more important than the filibuster,” he said. “It is a contradiction to say that we must protect the rights of minorities in the Senate while refusing to protect the rights of minorities in society.
When asked if he could persuade some of his colleagues to come and change the filibuster, Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, said he was optimistic.
“The most fundamental aspect of the Republic is access to the ballot box. We have a responsibility to defend it. If we don’t, we are not honoring our oath – so let’s see how to do it. We will find this specific path through our conversation, ”he says.
But Republicans are digging their heels too. Lindsey Graham, the Republican Senator from South Carolina, said this week he would use filibuster to block voting rights and LGBTQ + legislation, vowing he would “speak until I fall” if necessary.
And Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, warned earlier this week of a “scorched earth” Senate if Democrats got rid of the filibuster. He vowed he would use any procedural maneuver available to prevent the Senate from moving forward.
“No one sitting in this chamber can even begin to imagine what a Senate of completely scorched earth would look like,” McConnell said. “Even the most basic aspects of our colleagues’ agendas, the most mundane tasks of the Biden presidency, would be harder, not easier, for Democrats in a post-‘nuclear’ 50-50 Senate.
McConnell sent the warning even though he was the one who cleared the filibuster from Supreme Court candidates in 2017 to have Neil Gorsuch confirmed.
Despite the warnings, Stephen Spaulding, senior public policy and government affairs lawyer at Common Cause, a government watchdog group, said Democrats must keep all options on the table.
“The Democrats in the Senate have the majority and they must have the capacity to govern,” he said. “This idea that filibuster can be gratuitous, that you can basically raise your hand behind closed doors and stop everything, is unacceptable.”
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