President Joe Biden says he supports making an exception to the Senate filibuster rules in order to pass voting rights legislation : “If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster.”
It’s called leadership, folks. Way to go, Joe!
Thank you Mr.President for caring.
Please share widely!
OK, but it’s still not the President’s job to weigh in on Senate rules, unless he plans on sending Harris to play hardball with her constitutional role as President of the Senate.
DEMOCRACY IS IN CRISIS ! Hello? No one gives a rat’s ass about an outdated, Jim Crow era filibuster that is NOT even in the Constitution and has been altered many times over the years. If we can’t even support a carve-out to preserve and protect Voting Rights–the very foundation of democracy– we might as well just pack our bags and go home.
I support filibuster reform, but it’s not the President’s job to lead that particular fight. In fact, THAT would be contrary to the constitutional values of separation of powers.
This strikes me as a distraction and a red herring.
The fundamental responsibility of the President is to protect and defend the United States of America. As we’ve discussed before, it will of course be the Majority Leader or Vice President who implements the decisions in the Senate.
There is nothing untoward about the President having full, candid, and frank discussions with the leadership of the House and Senate in order to seek a consensus about contemplated changes in rules for either body.
What strikes me as a distraction is constantly asking the President to weigh in on Senate rules. As I have mentioned regarding chairmanships, it is constitutionally improper for the President to get involved with that.
“President Joe Biden says he supports . . . .” Where have I heard this before? I sincerely hope this succeeds but I’m not optimistic.
Doesn’t this mean that Biden is going to beg Senema and Manchin and that if one of them says no everyone will be admonished to “swallow our pride” or “just declare victory and move on”?
No, it means President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Schumer have agreed to bring to the floor the Freedom to Vote Act reform bill authored by Senator and former West Virginia State Secretary Manchin.
“He was a street fighter for a cause.” Marc Elias, Founder of the Democracy Docket, reflecting on the life of Leader Harry Reid, and says the Senate should heed his call to eliminate the filibuster in order to protect voting rights.
Robert Byrd changed Senate rules nine times saying : “When circumstances change, the filibuster has to change.” I agree with Senator Byrd.