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| AP Photo/Evan Vucci |
President Biden held private talks with a cadre of Senate Democrats on Thursday in an effort to mobilize support for blowing up the filibuster to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s voting laws.
Mr. Biden discussed the topic with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin III, among others, via Zoom. Lawmakers present on the call said Mr. Biden was attempting to gauge whether the push to alter the Senate‘s rules has sufficient support to succeed.
“He was encouraging us,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who took part in the call. “Thanking us and encouraging us … [but asking] ‘Are you talking? Are you taking it seriously? Are you trying to get there?’”
During the meeting, the president also stressed the need for Congress to combat a recent flurry of state laws strengthening the elections process.
“It was just talking about the importance of not suppressing the vote, which is pretty fundamental to our democracy,” said Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat who was also part of the call.
Mr. Biden‘s intercession comes as Democrats have privately been working on a plan to change the Senate‘s longstanding filibuster rules, which require at least 60 votes to end debate on legislation, to pass the election legislation. --->READ MORE HERE
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| AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster |
Senate Democrats, frustrated with a lack of progress on President Biden’s mammoth social welfare and climate bill, are talking about blowing up the filibuster rules again to force through a partisan overhaul of the country’s election laws.
Democrats want to close out their first year in the Senate majority with at least another major domestic policy win for the White House. Their best bet for reaching that goal is by mobilizing momentum for an overhaul of the nation’s voting laws, especially as Mr. Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act has in recent days.
“I think there’s a universal view in our caucus that we need to get something done,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat. “There’s a strong belief in the Senate that we can restore the Senate and at the same time deal with voting rights, and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”
Mr. Schumer and other Democratic leaders say the recent success in creating a one-time fast track process for raising the debt limit by a simple majority has created an opportunity. They say that measure, which passed only because of the support of 10 Republican senators, has opened the door for a broader effort to suspend the filibuster one time to pass voting rights legislation. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories:
McConnell warns of institutional ‘Armageddon’ if Dems gut filibuster to pass their election bill
Biden, Dems Alienate Americans With New Election Rigging Push
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