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Biden says he will consider 'doing away' with the filibuster after the Republicans blocked the Freedom to Vote Act in the Senate

  President Biden said he would consider 'doing away' with the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation, but cannot push to get ...

 President Biden said he would consider 'doing away' with the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation, but cannot push to get rid of the 60-vote threshold entirely right now as he would lose three votes on his economic agenda.   

'I also think we're going to have to move to the point where we fundamentally alter the filibuster,' Biden said. 

He said that he would 'lose at least three votes' if he brought up right now the larger conversation of eliminating the 60-vote threshold needed for most legislation in the Senate in favor of a simple majority. 

Moderate Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin have both vocally opposed getting rid of the filibuster. It's not clear who Biden was referring to as the third vote.  

'If in fact I get myself into, at this moment, the debate on the filibuster, I lose at least three votes right now to get what I have to get done on the economic side of the equation, the foreign policy side.'  

Biden confirmed he might move to nuke the filibuster on the Freedom to Vote Act, which failed without a single GOP vote this week, 'and maybe more.' 

Biden confirmed he might move to nuke the filibuster on the Freedom to Vote Act, which failed without a single GOP vote this week, 'and maybe more'

Biden confirmed he might move to nuke the filibuster on the Freedom to Vote Act, which failed without a single GOP vote this week, 'and maybe more'

Republican senators, led by Mitch McConnell, filibustered a major voting bill on Wednesday, blocking Democrats' plans to allow same-day voter registration and to make Election Day a holiday.

Republican senators, led by Mitch McConnell, filibustered a major voting bill on Wednesday, blocking Democrats' plans to allow same-day voter registration and to make Election Day a holiday.

Biden says he will consider 'doing away' with the filibuster
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'That remains to be seen exactly what that means in terms of fundamentally altering it, whether or not we just end the filibuster straight up,' said Biden. He added that Democrats might have to reform the filibuster on voting rights.

 'There are certain things that are just sacred rights. One is the sacred obligation that we never are going to renege on a debt. Only nation in the world we have never, ever, reneged on a single debt.' 

As he called for reform, Biden approvingly recalled the way the filibuster used to be implemented, where a lawmaker would have to stand on the floor and speak for hours on end. Now that no floor speech is required, the filibuster is used far more frequently. 

'You had to stand on the floor and exhaust everything you had and when you gave up the floor and someone else sought the floor, they had to talk until they finished. You're only allowed to do it a second time. After that, it's over. You vote.'

Republican senators filibustered a major voting bill on Wednesday, blocking Democrats' plans to allow same-day voter registration and to make Election Day a holiday.

It is the third time Democrats have tried to overhaul voting laws this year and the third time Republicans blocked them.

The issue has become one of the key battle lines in American politics since then President Trump claimed he had been robbed of election victory last year by voter fraud.

The latest version sets out national rules for running elections, limit party influence over delineating congressional districts and force disclosure of many anonymous donors.


Some of the changes were pushed by Sen. Joe Manchin, a key centrist Democratic senator, including limiting - rather than banning - voter ID requirements.

It still allows same-day voter registration and no-excuse mail voting, which are opposed by Republicans.  

Earlier this month, Biden floated the idea of changing filibuster rules to use a 'nuclear option' to suspend the debt limit after Republicans said they would not give him the votes to do so. 

When asked on a trip to Michigan whether he would consider the so-called nuclear option of a filibuster carve out, he said: 'I think that's a real possibility.'

The maneuver would allow Democrats to suspend the federal government's $28.4 trillion borrowing cap without Republican votes.

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