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Washington – Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell backed down his demand that Senate Democrats preserve the procedural tool known as filibuster, easing a standoff with new Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as the two negotiated a power-sharing deal in the tightly divided chamber.
McConnell said Monday night that he had essentially achieved his goal after two Democratic senators said they would not agree to change the rules to end the filibuster, which would require a 60-vote threshold to do so. advance most laws. Without the support of all Democratic senators, a rule change would fail.
“With these assurances, I look forward to moving forward with a power-sharing agreement modeled on this precedent,” McConnell said in a statement. He did not name the Democrats, but Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona had expressed reservations about eliminating the tool.
Schumer’s office said the Republican leader had no choice but to put his demands aside.
“We are happy that Senator McConnell has thrown in the towel and dropped his ridiculous request,” said Justin Goodman, a spokesperson for the Democratic leader. “We look forward to bringing the Senate under Democratic control and starting to do big, bold things for the American people.”
The standoff between the two leaders practically brought the Senate to a standstill at the start of the new Democratic majority, as both sides could not organize routine chamber operations for committee assignments and resources. The stalemate threatened President Biden’s ability to meet his legislative agenda.
Usually a matter of routine, the house organizing resolution became McConnell’s power play once Democrats took control with the Jan. 5 special election in Georgia.
Even though McConnell removed the 60-vote threshold to confirm former President Trump’s three Supreme Court candidates, he wanted to prevent Democrats from doing the same with Mr. Biden’s legislative agenda.
Democrats were under pressure from Liberal supporters to end filibustering so that they could more easily pass Mr. Biden’s legislative priorities without needing Republican votes. Democrats hold the slimmest majorities in the chamber, 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to vote for the tiebreaker.
Schumer hadn’t said he would end the process, but McConnell wasn’t taking any chances.
McConnell made the brazen demand to maintain the filibuster before agreeing to any other conditions for organizing the Senate. Schumer’s refusal to do so shut the chamber down.
The details of the rest of the organizing resolution were yet to be defined, but they were to continue, with any immediate change in the filibuster, at this point appearing to be irrelevant.
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