Dianne Feinstein says the Senate should analyze filibuster reform.

Senator Dianne Feinstein has long been seen as one of the big supporters of filibuster. Now she is making it clear that her mind could change, giving Democrats a boost who want to do away with the procedure that effectively requires most laws to receive 60 votes to pass the Senate. Feinstein, who served in the Senate for nearly three decades, said Friday night that the shootings in Atlanta this week caused her to change her mind and that she may be willing to change how filibuster works if senators can not meet. bipartite on gun control legislation and voting rights.

“If that proves impossible and Republicans continue to abuse filibuster by demanding closure votes, I am ready to change the way Senate filibuster rules are used,” the California Democrat said in a statement. “I do not want to deviate from Senate traditions, but I also do not believe that a party should be able to prevent votes on important bills by abusing filibuster.

In the statement, Feinstein pointed out that President Joe Biden also expressed support for the change this week. Biden, who served in the Senate for 36 years, suggested he might endorse what’s known as “filibuster,” which essentially requires a senator to keep speaking in order to maintain filibuster. “I don’t think you have to eliminate the filibuster. You have to do it like it was when I came to the Senate at the time, ”Biden said in an interview with ABC News. “You had to get up and order the floor. And you had to keep talking.

Feinstein previously said she wasn’t too keen on changing the filibuster rules because she worried about what might happen if Republicans regain control of the Senate. She wasn’t the only resistance among Democrats to changing the rules, but even some who have spoken about the importance of the filibuster seem willing to at least talk about reform. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, for example, recently said he was ready to discuss the need for a talking filibuster.

With Feinstein and Manchin both expressing potential support for at least some sort of reform, the main obstacle among Democrats now is Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Synema not only opposed the filibuster reform, she also said she would consider strengthening the filibuster. Given the Senate’s 50-50 split, Democrats would likely need the support of all members of their party to push through reforms.